


Flares And Drops

by aerobesk



Series: The Elements [2]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: F/M, M/M, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence, minecraft au, minor gore, oblivious gavin, powers au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-05
Updated: 2015-04-05
Packaged: 2018-01-10 23:09:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 24,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1165681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aerobesk/pseuds/aerobesk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While the Elementals were once a high and mighty race, their descendants weren’t always regal enough to share in their glory. (Minecraft!AU / Powers!AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Alistair's Apothecary

“Look, we only need supplies, alright? Not your shoddy healing ‘expertise.’ So just give me the flowers and I’ll be on my way.”

            Gavin heard the angry voice in the shop he was passing. He patted Grisham on the nose, loosening the poor donkey’s saddlebags a little before entering the shop to see what the yelling was about.

            Gavin rarely traded with this village. It was small and a little off his main route, but he had always liked the people there, so he sometimes made time to visit.

            When Gavin entered Alistair’s small apothecary shop it was mostly empty; poor, little Alistair was being stared down by the only customer.

            Despite the man’s harsh words, Gavin immediately decided that he liked him. He sometimes had oddly good feelings about people, and for whatever reason the tall, broad, brunette man who was scaring the hell out of one of his favorite apothecary masters had a good vibe to him.

            “I’m sorry, but nothing that I have can cure what you’re describing unless I can see the boy myself.”

            “There has to be something. Some potion you can send me back with, or a trained medical person near here that I could talk to.”

            “I believe I might be able to help with that.”

            Gavin wasn’t sure what had possessed him to say it, or to step forward into the flickering torchlight of the main room. Alistair jumped, a smile spreading over his face as he caught sight of Gavin. Then the customer faced him.

            Light brown hair fell into blue eyes, a hard expression taking place on the man’s face. A leather tunic covered a white blouse, and a belt with a few pouches on it held up the knee length kilt he wore. Tall white socks led into heavy travel boots. And he looked almost ready to rip someone’s head off.

            “Ah, Gavin! Splendid timing!” Alistair turned back to the tall man.

            “Ryan, if anyone is going to be able to help your friend, he will.”

            Ryan looked him over skeptically. Gavin knew what he saw. A blond boy, half a foot shorter than him, with wild hair and large green eyes. A creeper skin vest under a dark green cloak that went almost to his knees, a pair of brown pants tucked into soft green, leather-hunting boots. A shoddy looking longbow hung over his shoulder along with a half full quiver of arrows. A creeper skin belt with a pouch and a sax knife sheath hung off his frame. He looked small. Wild. A farm boy who decided to steal the family’s donkey and take off on an adventure.

            “Him?” Ryan sent another glance back to Alistair. “You’re kidding me right? This boy couldn’t fix a scrape, let alone heal this!”

            “He’s the best you’re going to get.”

            Ryan looked him over one last time before sighing.

            “Geoff isn’t going to be happy about this. Come on. We live a good distance from the village.”


	2. Achievement City

Gavin followed Ryan through the dense forest. They had been traveling for a day already and the broad man hadn’t said two words to him. At this point, he just hoped they were getting close.

            He pulled the wary Grisham along by his reins, jogging a few steps to keep up. Then he stopped, staring up at the tall structure in front of him in awe.

            Ryan stopped as well, smirking at the look on Gavin’s face. The Altar that they had built a while ago towered over the two, huge against the midday sun.

            “We’re getting close.”

            Gavin nodded, following Ryan when he started moving again. He wanted to ask questions, but he had a feeling that they wouldn’t be answered at the moment.

            Eventually he saw another structure appearing over the trees. An impossibly tall square of stone rose into the sky. If the quickening of Ryan’s pace was any indication, it was where they were heading, too.

            They broke out of the trees and into the oddest collection of buildings Gavin had ever seen. The ground beneath their feet was a sea of green wool, stretching out to touch the edges of 5 houses. The stone structure that he had seen was indeed one of the houses. Next to it was a small dirt shack with a large painting of a pair of martial artists hanging on the front of it. To the left of that was a large, fancy looking wooden house. A similar house was on Gavin’s other side, and on the right edge of the wool there was another dirt house. This one was a little larger than the first, with one small window near the top of the door. And Ryan was heading straight for it.

            Gavin jogged to keep up, Grisham trotting behind him. He arrived behind Ryan, finally hearing what he was saying.

             “I don’t know about him, but Alistair said that he’s the best we’re going to get.”

            Ryan was pushed aside as another man walked out, looking Gavin up and down.

            At first glance he seemed to be wearing armor, but Gavin looked closer and saw that it was a leather shirt painted with a deep green armor design. His pants and boots had the same design, giving the man a dangerous yet comfortable look. Then he spoke.

            “So. You’re a healer?” His voice was rough in an almost friendly way, but Gavin could still see the wariness in his eyes. He held out his hand.

            “You could say that.”

            The man didn’t shake the offered hand. “What do you mean? Are you a healer or not?”

            Gavin sighed, letting his hand drop.

            “Well, it’s a little more complicated than that. I know my stuff, but I’m primarily a trader.”

            “But you can heal?”  
            “Anything I’ve seen before, I’ve fixed. And I’ve seen a lot.”

            The man finally held out his hand, a small smile growing on his face when Gavin shook it eagerly.

            “Geoff.”

            “Gavin.”

            “Come on inside and have a look, I guess.”

            He gestured for Gavin to enter the house before him, but the smaller man didn’t miss the look that was passed over his head between Geoff and Ryan.

            He ignored them and focused on the motionless man on the bed. A tuxedo jacket hung neatly over the post and a pair of glasses was settled on the night table. He was shirtless; a blanket was tucked under his arms and his dark hair was stuck to his forehead with sweat, despite the peaceful look on his face. Gavin sat down, feeling his forehead and checking for marks on his arms. He asked his questions while the looked the sickly man over.

            “How long has he been sick?”

            “A week.”

            “Only one week?”

            “Well, he mentioned a headache, a little over two weeks ago.”

            “What were you doing a week before that?”

            “Well… Probably one of our games.”

            “Games?” he pulled down the blankets, spotting a bandage on his shoulder. “What’s that?”

            Ryan answered him. “Just a bruise.”

            Gavin pealed off the bandages, blinking at the purple mark. It almost looked like… No way…

            He looked right at Geoff.

            “Your game. It wouldn’t happen to have involved ender pearls, would it?”

            Geoff and Ryan exchanged a look, the taller man shrugging.

            “Yeah, it did.”

            Gavin closed his eyes for a moment, looking back at the sick man.

            “Well, I know what’s wrong then. But it’s not an easy fix.”

            Just then a voice sounded from outside.

            “Geoff? Why’s there a donkey here?”

            Ryan stepped out. There was a beat of silence, and then shouting.

            “The others are here.”


	3. Ender Pearl Poisoning

            “Others?”

            “There are two other guys who live here. And if you’re diagnosis is right, Michael isn’t going to be happy.”

            As he said that, a curly brunette head of hair appeared over his shoulder. The new man was silent for a moment, looking Gavin up and down.

            “So. This is the healer.”

            A bearskin was draped over the man’s shoulders, a blue pack tucked underneath. A brown t-shirt was hanging low over a pair of yellow pants, shoved at the knee into brown, fur lined boots.

            Geoff stepped in between the two, effectively ending the staring contest.

            “Michael, this is Gavin. He knows what’s wrong with Ray, and how to fix him.”

            Michael looked Gavin over once more, a disbelieving look in his eyes.

            “Oh really? Care to explain then? What’s wrong with him?”

            “He’s poisoned.” There was no real need to sugar coat it.

            There was a minute of silence after he said that, 4 identically confused expressions looking at him. Ryan had reappeared in the doorway, an even taller man with a large beard standing over his shoulder.

            “Poisoned.”

            “Yes.”

            “By who?”

            “Himself.”

            Michael rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

            “Sorry to break it to you, but Ray isn’t exactly suicidal.”

            Gavin sighed, eyes trailing back to the very visible bruise on Ray’s shoulder.

            “It’s really rare. I’ve only ever seen it once before, but it does happen. When you throw an ender pearl, they shatter on the ground and what’s inside drags you to the spot. But sometimes, the pearl shards don’t evaporate fast enough, and the pieces get stuck inside the person when they land. As soon as they touch the person, they become solid again.”

            He pointed to the blue-purple blemish.

            “They’re in his shoulder. I don’t know what it hit that they lodged there, but that’s what it is.”

            Michael was looking at Ray’s bruise, Geoff and the tall man were still looking at Gavin, and Ryan just looked pissed.

            “This is a load of bullshit! That isn’t a real thing. We would have heard of something like that.”

            Now it was Gavin’s turn to be angry. He didn’t like it when people told him he was wrong, especially when he knew that he wasn’t.

            “Oh really? You would know about it? When you guys live in your own bloody town in the middle of the forest? Not to mention the fact that not everyone ends up running around with ender pearls enough to get it! It’s a rare thing even when using them, and not everyone has ever even used one in general! Most people who even have or can buy ender pearls have trained healers with them, and anyone else who has them ends up selling them!”

            Gavin was practically seething by the end of his rant. He took a calming breath before continuing.

            “I told you, I’ve seen this before. And you don’t really forget what something looks like when you’ve dug it out of a dying woman’s stomach.”

            Now he was just getting 4 slightly shocked looks and he was a few seconds away from walking out the door when Ryan nodded.

            “Alright. As long as you know what you’re doing; I’ll trust you.”

            Gavin relaxed, his shoulders slumping. He really did want to help the bedridden man, but he knew that if all of them didn’t agree, he wouldn’t get the chance.

            It looked as though he wouldn’t have to worry about that though, as fairly quickly the other three agreed.

 


	4. Stay With Me

            It was less than an hour later that Gavin was standing in front of the newly set up table in Ray’s house, an array of potions, leaves, flowers, strips of bark, and a few other things laid out in front of him.

            Ryan was sitting behind him, watching as he mixed poppy seeds and oxeye petals into a bowl. They had no reason to trust him enough to leave him alone with their unconscious friend, and Gavin didn’t blame them one bit for being paranoid enough to post a sentry.

            He stirred his concoction until it was a thick paste, pulling out a leather bundle and another potion from his bag. He had taken care of Grisham, letting him roam and graze near the hill in the corner of the city. He had pulled the necessary equipment out of the saddlebags, piling the rest in the corner while he worked. He turned to Ryan.

            “I may need your help with this.”

            Ryan stood warily, glancing at the bundle in his hands.

            “What are you going to do?”

            “I need to take the pieces out.”

            Ryan sighed; he had known that that’s where he was going. He had just hoped that he was wrong.

            Gavin prepped the area before laying out the bundle and checking over his tools. He had always been happy with the decision to carry his own tools with him. It made situations like this so much easier when he didn’t have to ask people if they had any knives that he could cut their friends open with.

            He quickly got to work, Ryan watching closely from the other side of the bed.

            “Grab that jar and hold it out for me.”

            The larger man grimaced, but did as he was told. He watched Gavin as he made the incision, placing an odd looking tool into it to keep the cut open while he looked into the wound. Ryan shivered; he had never really been one to get queasy, but this was a little much, even for him.

            Gavin made a small noise, pulling Ryan out of his thoughts. He gasped as the healer extracted the tool he held in his hand from the wound, a small, blue shard pinched in the ends. He reached out and dropped it in the jar, quickly going back in for the next one.

            Ryan stared at the piece in awe. Even covered in blood, it was easy to tell what it was. Ender pearls were small, only about the width of a finger, and he could only imagine how hard it would be to find the rest.

            “I can’t believe it,” he whispered, only gaining a snort from Gavin as he dropped a second piece in.

            Three hours and twenty-five shards later, Gavin was fairly confident that he had gotten the whole thing out. He grabbed the second potion, letting some of the solution drip into the wound before retracting the device that was holding it open.

            Ryan picked up the potion, looking it over.

            “Arion,” Gavin said, pulling out a needle and spider thread. “Helps fight infection and is useful against any type of poison.”

            There was silence as Gavin stitched the wound up, spreading more of the Arion onto it and letting it dry. Then he quickly spread some of the paste he had made earlier over it, placing clean bandaging over it and waiting. Finally, he went over his supplies, packing away his herbs, cleaning his tools, and putting some water into the jar with the pearl shards.

            He grabbed his bags, only leaving the jar on the table as he left, calling Grisham over and patting the donkey’s mane.

            “Well?”

            He turned, finding Michael and Geoff watching him. He opened his mouth to speak but Ryan beat him to it.

            “27.”

            “What?”

            “He just pulled 27 pieces of an ender pearl out of Ray’s shoulder.”

            Geoff blinked at him, turning to Gavin.

            “He was going to die.”

            Gavin sighed.

            “He still might.”

            Three shocked, angry faces looked at him before a barrage of yells were thrown at him.

            “I thought you fixed him!”

            “You just dug around in his chest for four hours and you’re saying that he might still die?”  
            “What kind of healer are you?”

            “Enough!” Gavin shouted. “Look, I did everything I could. I took the pearl out, cleaned and fixed the wound; there’s really nothing else to do but keep it clean. But it was in there for weeks. With how much those pieces moved around, the poison’s probably spread through his whole body. I’m honestly surprised he wasn’t dead before I got here.”

            They exchanged glances before Michael spoke.

            “Well, it’s a good thing that you can clean the wounds properly.”

            “Me?”

            “Yeah you. Who else?”

            “You guys.”

            Geoff blinked. “You’re leaving?”

            Gavin looked at each of them in turn.

            “Am I not? I thought I was kicked as soon as I got the pearl out.”

            Ryan shook his head.

            “We were expecting you to stay until he’s better. Fully better.”

            “Oh. Well, I guess I could stay another while…”

            Geoff smiled, pointing towards where Grisham had been grazing earlier.

            “You can set up camp over there; we never use that spot.”

            Gavin picked up his stuff, and with the help of Ryan, managed to get everything into a sort of neat pile.

            “Be honest with me.”

            Gavin looked at him. “Alright.”

            “Is he going to die?

            “I’m honestly not sure. But I’ll tell you this. With me still here, he has a good chance at making it.”

            Ryan nodded. “I thought so.”

            Gavin watched the larger man walk away, catching a glimpse of Michael storming into his house and slamming the door shut.

            He sat on the ground, leaning back against his bags. Grisham trotted over, nuzzling Gavin’s shoulder with his head. He patted the donkey’s nose.

            “Well Grisham. This is going to be an interesting stay, isn’t it?”

 


	5. Healing

            “I’m telling you, Michael. He knows what he’s doing.”

            “Does he though? Does he really? He just told us that Ray could still die! What does that tell you, Ryan?”

            “It tells me that he’s human, and that Ray would probably be dead now if it wasn’t for Gavin.”

            Michael shook his head, sitting on the edge of his bed.

            “Look Michael. I know you’re worried about Ray. But Gavin has done more than I ever thought possible for anyone at this point. If anyone can save Ray, it’s him. I saw it Michael. No one knew they were there, but I watched him pull the pieces out. He can save him; I’ll honestly be surprised if he doesn’t.”

            Michael was quiet, staring at the floor.

            “You really think so?”

            Ryan nodded and Michael looked up.

            “Ok then. I believe you.”

            Ryan smiled and walked forward, clapping the smaller man on the shoulder.

            “He can do it.”

            He left, taking one last glance at Michael. He knew that the man didn’t really believe him; he just hoped that Gavin would prove his point.

            He looked over at the traveler’s spot, noticing that the man had just pulled a blanket over himself, falling asleep right there on the grass. The now brushed down donkey lay near him, and his bags were piled behind him.

            Ryan looked at his watch. It was almost 3 in the morning. He sighed, trudging off towards his house.

\-----

            Ryan woke the next morning to a loud knock on his door. He rolled out of bed, rubbing his eyes as he opened it to reveal Michael.

            “What?”

            “You know where the healer is?”

            “No.”

            “Well, his stuff’s still here and he’s not.”

            Ryan looked across the city to where the boy’s donkey was still asleep next to the pile of saddlebags. The smaller medical kit was missing. He turned back to Michael.

            “You did check Ray’s house before bugging me right?”

            The brunette opened his mouth and closed it again, turning to look at Ray’s place with a sheepish expression. Ryan rolled his eyes.

            “Come on.”

            He started off towards Ray’s house, pulling a shirt over his head as they walked.

            He opened the door to see Gavin standing at the table, the polished wooden surface strewn with petals and seeds, leaves and bark, bowls and jars. Bottles of potions and powders were stacked on top of each other, odd colored pastes and strange liquids lined up against the wall.

            He had a bowl in his right hand, a grinding stone in his left, and was reading out of a book that was propped open against a large stack of them, varying in binding. A mint green powder filled the bottom of the bowl, identical to the stuff in the bottom of the jar settled in front of him.

            He looked up as the two entered, smiling warmly as he tipped the bowl’s contents into the jar. He set the bowl down, wiping his hands off on his shirt.

            His hair was wild looking and had some singeing along the tips near his hairline. His face was a little pale and the bags under his eyes were darker than the day before.

            “Morning!” he called cheerfully, dropping some light blue petals and dark green leaves into the bowl and beginning to grind them. Ryan looked at his watch. 9am.

            “Gavin, how long have you been awake?”

            “Oh, only a few hours.”

            “How many is a few?”

            “No more than 5.”

            Ryan blinked at him. “Aren’t you tired? That’s only an hour of sleep.”

            Gavin smiled at him, pouring the fresh powder into the jar.

            “Nah. I’m used to not sleeping much.”

            “Well, alright then. We’re gonna go talk to Geoff about what we’re doing today; will you be ok here?”

            Gavin chuckled, closing the book and opening two others.

            “Yeah, Ryan. I’ll be fine.”

            “Alright. See you later then.”

            The two left Gavin alone, heading over to the bulletin board where Geoff and Jack were waiting.

            “How’s the healer doing?”

            “Fine. He’s been working for a few hours now.”

            Geoff nodded his approval. The assignments were given out and the rest of the day was spent completing them. Ryan was sent out to collect food; he came back with a pouch full of meat and a bag of apples. He had found enough of them to make a pie, a rare treat, and even managed to get some extras.

            It was getting dark by the time he made it back to the city. He could see the lights on in Geoff’s house, and he was heading over when he noticed the still flickering lights in Ray’s window.

            He opened the door, noticing that Ray had fresh bandages on his chest. Gavin was sitting in a chair that had been pulled up to the table, three books lying open in front of him. His cloak was in a pile near the end of the bed, and his sleeveless, creeper-skin vest was unbuttoned at the top. He had one arm on the table, his head lying on it. His mouth was open and he was drooling.

            Ryan blew out the half burned candle and grabbed the cloak from the floor. He laid it over Gavin’s shoulders, his fingers brushing over the cool skin.

            He dug an apple out of his pouch, setting it in front of the sleeping boy’s face before slipping quietly out the door and heading for Geoff’s.


	6. Gems, Wisps, and Neutrals

            “Hey Gavin?”

            “Yeah?”

            “Can I ask you something?”

            Gavin was going through his supplies, taking inventory of the plants in his stock so that he knew what to get when he next made a trip into the village. Ryan was leaning against the hill next to him, watching the petals and leaves move through his fingers.

            “Go ahead.”

            “How do you feel about Elements?”

            Gavin dropped the flower that was in his hands, immediately turning to face Ryan.

            “Why?”

            Ryan was surprised by the man’s reaction.

            “I’m just curious!”

            Gavin watched him for a moment, sizing up the man’s answer before replying.

            “I guess they’re alright…”

            “Are you ok? You don’t seem too happy with talking about this.”

            Gavin sighed, rubbing a hand through his hair.

            “Look, I’ve just had some bad experiences with Elements alright? A Flare was the reason I had to leave home in the first place, and it didn’t get any better after that.”

            “I’m sorry. That sounds terrible.”

            “So, why did you really ask, Ryan?”

            It was Ryan’s turn to sigh, looking away from the green gaze now trained on him.

            “Well, Geoff thought that we should figure out how you would react before we told you.”

            “Told me what?”

            “Well… We do have a few Elements here…”

            Gavin stared at him. Elements? Here? But he hadn’t seen any signs, any tattoos, nothing! They had managed to hide it that well?

            “Who?”

            “Geoff and I.”

            “You!?”

            “Yeah…”

            Ryan pulled down the collar of his tunic, revealing the small, green, almost tribal looking tattoo on his collarbone. The geometric look of a Gem tattoo was unmistakable, and the word “James” was written around the edge, so small that Gavin could barely read it.

            “Wow…”

            “Yeah…”

            “What’s Geoff then?”

            “Wisp.”

            He didn’t elaborate. Gavin was still in shock. How had he managed to miss that? How had he managed to spend weeks with these people and not realize that almost half of them were Elements?

            Ryan was trying to gauge the man’s reaction from the looks crossing over his face. He looked shocked, that was for sure, and slightly worried.

            “You don’t need to worry, Gavin. We don’t have any Flares.”

            Gavin nodded, silent as he went back to looking through his herbs. He knew that Ryan was just trying to make him feel better, and, in a way, the fact that he didn’t have to worry about a Flare did make him feel somewhat better. He was still slightly nervous though.

            “What would you do if there was?”

            “What?”

            “What would you do if there was a Flare here?”

            Ryan looked down thoughtfully. “Honestly, probably not a lot. Michael… well, he’s good around Elements. Worst-case scenario, we have him if things get out of hand. So we really wouldn’t be too worried around one.”

            Gavin looked at him quizzically. “Michael’s good around Elements?”

            The other man grinned. “As good around them as a Neutral could ever be.”

            “A Neutral?!”

            “Yeah. He’s certainly one of a kind.”

            “Damn. You can say that again. I’ve never actually met a Neutral.”

            “Neither had we, until he showed up in the middle of our city, bleeding and being chased down by a Drop.”

            “Really?”

            “Yeah. We managed to get the guy to calm down, and learned that the Drop wasn’t actually all bad. We healed Michael up, and took him in while we sent Caleb on his way.”

            “That must have been a terrible experience for him.”

            “Michael’s not really great with strangers.”

            Gavin snorted. “Yeah, I know.”

            They grinned, remembering the first week of Gavin’s stay with them, full of shouting and cursing. Gavin had eventually gotten sick of it, yelling back until he had actually managed to hurt his throat. Michael had stopped after that, actually taking the time to remember that Gavin was there to help them, and eventually the bullying stopped, morphing slowly into an odd ‘friendship.’ The two could at least stand each other.

            “Speak of the devil…” Gavin looked up and over his shoulder at the sound of Ryan’s voice, turning to see Michael sprinting towards them across the town. He didn’t stop, waving his arms frantically as he shouted at them.

            “Ray’s waking up!”

            Gavin was on his feet in an instant, Ryan right behind him as he sprinted after Michael towards the dirt house.


	7. Guardian Angel

            Gavin arrived at Ray’s house out of breath, partly from the run over and partly from the excitement. Michael ducked into the doorway, stepping aside to make room for Gavin as the blond barreled passed, barely stopping in time to catch the doorframe and drag himself inside. Geoff was there, sitting in the chair next to the bed. He stopped talking as Gavin entered, letting the blond have a clear view of the brunette in the bed.

            Ray blinked at him, surprise evident in his expression. He turned to Geoff. “So. This is my guardian angel?”

            Gavin felt himself flush slightly. “Guardian angel? Hardly.” He wrung his hands. “Just someone who knows what he’s doing.”

            Ray smiled at him, rolling the jar of pearl shards between his hands; Gavin hadn’t even noticed that he had it. “Close enough.”

            Gavin smiled back before stepping forward, suddenly all business. “So, how do you feel?”

            The brunette shrugged, wincing as he did. “Not great, but not terrible.” He thought for a moment before adding, “Better than before.”

            Gavin nodded, apparently satisfied as he stepped forward, checking Ray’s pulse and temperature. “That’s about how you should feel at this point. It’ll take a while for your body to work out the poison. I’m honestly surprised that you’re awake this early.”

            Gavin continued to check on Ray, looking at the stitches and replacing the bandages before beginning to brew some kind of odd-looking tea. Geoff, Ryan, Michael, and Jack took their leave, but Geoff caught a hold of Ryan’s arm before he could run off.

            “You did good, bringing him here.”

            Ryan nodded, sending a glance back towards Ray’s house. “I agree.”

            “Once Ray’s better, he’s going to leave.”

            “I know. It’s what we agreed on.”

            “You don’t want him to leave.”

            It wasn’t a question. Ryan turned to him, searching his expression; there was slight pity there, and a tiny spark of hope, but overall it was carefully blank.

            “It’s not my decision.” With that Ryan walked away, not looking back as he heard Geoff sigh.

-

            “Gavin.”

            The blond looked up from where he was finishing off his final saddlebag. Ray had been awake for two weeks, and now that the stitches were out, there was no more reason for Gavin to hang around.

            He had cleared his table in Ray’s house while the brunette was out picking apples with Michael. He had been hoping to get packed and get away before anyone got back from their chores. Jack was out collecting meat and Ryan was looking for iron. Geoff had been out looking for pumpkins, but apparently he had finished early.

            “What’s up, Geoff?” Gavin had become a lot better friends with the inhabitants of the odd little town over the month that he’d been there than he had ever imagined possible. Ray would laugh at pretty much all of his jokes. Michael had invited him to join one of their games. Geoff had asked his opinion and then brought him in to help build the storage room under his house. Jack had realized how often he forgot to eat and started making sure he had at least one meal a day. Ryan had taken him out on a tour of the forest, showing him a bunch of their games and buildings. He had almost become at home in their little town. Though, despite that warm feeling he had around them, he still knew that he had almost overstayed his welcome. He had hoped to avoid awkward goodbyes, but Geoff’s next words made him almost regret that decision.

            “Not even gonna say goodbye?”

            Gavin grinned, rolling his eyes playfully as he stood, trying to pass it off as friendly as he packed the bag next to the others already on Grisham’s saddle.

            “Come now, Geoff. Like any of you lot will actually care once I’m gone.”

            Geoff was silent, and after a minute Gavin turned around. What he found surprised him; Geoff actually looked hurt.

            “Do you really think that?”           

            Gavin shrugged, kneeling down and loading up his quiver. “Well, I mean, it’s true, isn’t it?”

            “Not at all.”

            The blond stopped his movements, finally holding Geoff’s gaze. “What are you talking about?”

            “Michael would be pissed if you just up and left. Jack would be hurt; Ray would be upset, and Ryan would be absolutely devastated.”

            Gavin cut him off with a snort, finally letting a little of his annoyance at the other blond show. “Devastated? Right. That’s why he’s been ignoring me for days.”

            “Well, if I were really close to someone, but knew that they were leaving soon, I’d distance myself too. Why make it harder, you know?”

            Gavin winced, focusing on his quiver again. “It doesn’t matter. I’m low on supplies and Grisham’s getting restless.”

            He stood again, slinging his quiver over his shoulder and putting his bow into his saddlebags, before turning to Geoff and clapping a hand on his shoulder, smiling sadly.

            “Geoff, I’m a traveler. I have to go; there are people who miss me.” It was a lie, and they both knew it. “I may be back. Besides,” he said as he swung himself up into the saddle, looking down at his friend. “If I don’t say goodbye, then I’m not really gone; I’m just not here right now.”

            With that he tugged the reins, beginning to trot off into the forest. He turned in the saddle, smiling back at Geoff and raising a hand. “Later!”

            Geoff returned the gesture, calling back a “Later” that he knew the younger man didn’t hear as he watched Gavin disappear into the forest.


	8. BATTLE MUSIC

            Gavin was nearing the south side of the Altar of Pimps before he heard the shouting. It was about an hour after dark and he had been looking for a place to camp. The screams sounded close, and Gavin got worried when he recognized the voice. Ray…

            He broke Grisham into a canter, heading towards the noise. It wasn’t long before he came to a clearing and found the reason for the screaming.

            Michael was kneeling on the ground, an arrow sticking out of his thigh. A skeleton was on the other side of the clearing, bow at full draw and aimed at the wounded boy. Not even five feet away from him was a pair of zombies scratching at a tree, and Gavin could just barely make out a pair of black pants and a cloak peeking out from the branches.

            Gavin had taken all of that in and had his bow at full draw in seconds. His arrow slammed into the skeleton’s skull, making the thing reel back and sending its arrow a few feet to the left of Michael. Gavin’s second arrow went straight through its eye socket, causing it to let out a horrid, screeching noise from its jaws. Gavin had dismounted and had his sword drawn before it could recover, and its head was disconnected before it could defend itself.

            He swung around just as the first of the zombies noticed him. It groaned, moving towards him with one arm raised, the other tugging on an arrow sticking out of its side. He heaved his sword, taking its head off with a clean stroke. The second one was almost on top of him and he swung in an uppercut, taking off its arm at the shoulder and thrusting his blade through the roof of its mouth as it screamed.

            He panted, taking in the aftermath of the battle for a moment before turning to help Ray down. The two of them approached Michael, Ray standing back while Gavin knelt next to him, looking at the shaft sticking from the brunette’s thigh. He reached out slowly, carefully taking hold of the thing near Michael’s leg, snapping most of it off right above where he was holding it steady.

            “It’ll do until you get back.”

            His voice caused Ray to look away from Grisham, focusing his gaze on Gavin. “You’re leaving.”

            Gavin could hardly look at the pained expression on his face. “Ray, I…”

            He trailed off, his eyes widening as he focused on something over Ray’s shoulder.

            “Ray!” He leapt forward, grabbing the smaller man and shoving him to the left.

            Gavin barely registered the pain of the shout of his name as the creeper blew up, and his whole world faded into white noise.

\---

            “Gavin!” Michael and Ray shouted almost simultaneously, Michael crawling forward to look at the wounded boy. He didn’t look too hurt, but his breathing was shallow and his right arm was pointing out at an odd angle; most of what Michael could see of his right shoulder was bloodied. He grabbed under the smaller man’s back, attempting to lift him, but the pain lacing through his leg prohibited his attempts. Grisham had run away, spooked by the explosion, and was nowhere to be seen.

            Ray came forward and helped, his fear turning into adrenaline as he managed to carry the traveler bridle style. Regardless of the blood soaking into his shirt, he began walking towards the Altar, Michael limping behind him, his torch held high.

            He was starting to stumble when he heard the shouting from the forest. “Ray! Michael!” He recognized Jack’s voice, calling out quickly, feeling satisfaction as he heard his friend’s voice getting closer.

            Jack burst out of the forest, rushing towards them and pulling Gavin out of Ray’s arms, allowing the younger to help Michael. Though he was bursting with questions, he knew that there were more pressing matters, so he kept quiet, getting the boys back to Achievement City as fast as possible.

            They broke out of the trees and the first thing Jack saw was Geoff rushing towards them. He took Michael’s weight from Ray and moved him quickly to his house, allowing Jack to bring Gavin quickly to his place. He laid him out and took his shirt off, not allowing the blood to dry to it. Jack looked at his arm, finding the displacement and pushing it back, ignoring the sickening crunch. He quickly cleaned around the main wound, wincing at the look of how much skin had been taken off. He didn’t trust himself enough to cover it and quickly moved out, looking for Ryan. Not finding the blond, he moved towards Michael’s house, calling out to Geoff through the open doorway.

            “Where’s Ryan?”

            “He went out looking for them too.”

            “Can you get him back? Gavin’s hurt.”

            Geoff nodded, moving out the door and beginning to pull in a breath, creating a bubble-like wisp of air, whispering into it and releasing it, watching as it floated away towards Ryan. Geoff’s message wisps were useful sometimes, specifically in dire moments like this.

            Jack heard a sniffle and turned, finding Ray sitting on the edge of Michael’s bed. The brunette was asleep, a bloodied, broken shafted arrowhead laying on the table next to him.

            “He saved my life.” Jack looked at Ray, watching him wipe his nose. “He pushed me away from the creeper and took the blast himself.”

            Jack didn’t know what to say, so he stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. “He’s going to be fine, Ray. I promise. Ryan will fix him up.”

            Jack looked out the window, watching Geoff stare off into the night, waiting for the blond. He desperately hoped that that promise would be kept.


	9. Incredible

            Gavin opened his eyes slowly, groaning at the soft light worming its way through the door. The relative darkness in the house gave him a clue as to where he was; the soft mooing was his other hint. He was in Ryan’s house.

            Looking around he realized, more specifically, he was in Ryan’s bed. He sat up, catching a glimpse of the man, asleep in the chair next to him, before focusing on his bandages. The fight came back to him in a rush; the skeleton, Michael, the zombies, Ray, the creeper… The creeper! Ray!

            He let out a cry as he remembered, wincing as the breath pulled at the bandages over his ribs and shoulder. He looked them over, deciding that the explosion was the reason behind the pain in his arms. He heard a soft snort, looking to his right to see that his cry had woken Ryan.

            “Gavin… You’re awake.” The blond opened his mouth to respond, not getting any words out before a deliberately soft hug was wrapped around his shoulders. Normally he would have protested, (it hurt, damn it!) but he noticed that Ryan was relieved. A lot more relieved than he would have been if he had known that Gavin was going to survive. Which meant…

            “How long was I out?”

            “Almost a week.”

            That made Gavin flinch. Of course Ryan had been worried; he had been passed out for a week!

            “What happened?”

            “From what I’ve heard, you pushed Ray out of the way of a creeper. After saving his and Michael’s lives from a skeleton and some zombies.” Ryan was quiet for a moment. “You saved their lives. Again.”

            Gavin felt himself flush, but kept quiet while Ryan continued.

            “Your arm was dislocated and some of the skin on your shoulder was taken off. I placed some Acacia leaves over it and it’s healing nicely.”

            “Is Ray ok?”

            Ryan smiled. “Ray’s entirely fine.”

            Gavin felt himself relax, knowing that at least his friend was alright.

            “I should probably go tell Geoff that you’re awake.”

            The wounded man nodded sleepily, letting himself drift off as Ryan quietly left the house.

\---

            “He’s awake?!”

            “Yeah.”

            “You said he wouldn’t be awake for another week-”

            “If at all, yes, I know. His recovery is incredible.”           

            “That… that’s amazing. Ray’s going to be ecstatic.”

            “About what?”

            They turned to find Ray and Michael standing in the doorway of Geoff’s house. The older man turned, crossing his arms across his chest lazily. “Looks like your guardian angel’s awake.”

            Ray gave a start, blinking at the two of them in turn. “Gavin’s awake? But you said-“

            “Yes, Ray, I know what I said. But he’s awake.”

            “Can I… Can I see him?”

            “He’ll be asleep now, but next time he wakes up, I’ll call for you.”

            The shorter man looked relieved, as though a huge weight had been lifted from his chest. “Thanks Ryan. You’re a life saver.”

            Ryan shrugged. “I do what I can.”

\---

            The next time Gavin woke up, Ray was already there, having been sent by Geoff to bring Ryan food. He opened his eyes, less painfully than the first time, and the first thing he focused on was the back of Ray’s cloak.

            “I’m telling you, Ryan, you have to eat! And sleep, and calm down! He’s not going to get better if you aren’t here and healthy.”

            “I’m fine Ray; I swear.”

            “No you aren’t! You haven’t eaten in two days! And when was the last time you slept?”

            Ryan opened his mouth to answer, getting cut off by Gavin.

            “You aren’t eating?”

            Ray whipped around, letting out a cry of surprise, and Ryan looked up at him with wide eyes. “Gavin! How are you feeling?”

            Gavin leveled him with a stare. “Why aren’t you eating?”

            The larger man let out a slightly exasperated sigh. “Gavin, I’m fine. How do you feel?”

            “Not terrible, I suppose.”

            “That’s good.” Ryan stood, handing the bowl of Mushroom Stew that Ray had brought to the man in the bed. Gavin, however, didn’t take it.

            “Ray, could you go grab another one?”

            The brunette nodded, bounding away, eager to get away from the staring contest between the two blonds.

            He was back a minute later, a steaming bowl of stew in his hands. He handed it to Ryan, who was sitting in his chair. When Ray looked at Gavin, he was simply sitting there, holding his own bowl. Ryan finally spoke up.

            “Gavin, you need to eat.”

            “So do you.”

            “Just eat, Gav.”

            “Only when you do.”

            Ryan shook his head slightly, sighing as he picked up his spoon. Gavin copied the action, ignoring the glare he got from Ryan. The taller man dipped the spoon in, taking a bite of stew, watching as Gavin did as well. They continued eating, bite for bite, barely even registering when Ray took his leave. Soon enough, both bowls were empty and Ryan stood, grabbing Gavin’s from him and setting both of them on the table.

            “Feel better?”

            “Much. And you?”

            Ryan smiled. “I do feel better.”

            Gavin grinned back, holding Ryan’s gaze until the taller blond coughed awkwardly, turning his head away, grabbing the bowls and muttering something about taking them to Geoff’s before quickly leaving. By the time he got back, Gavin was already asleep.

 


	10. AN ADVENTURE

Gavin looked up from his book to see Geoff walking towards him. While he’d been banned from doing anything even close to physical activity, Ryan had finally cleared him to go outside again. He had been getting so antsy being cooped up inside that he’d almost fallen over trying to get out of bed when Ryan had gone to get them food.

            So, cleared for the outside world again, Gavin was resting up against a tree with a book open on his lap, enjoying the shade. Grisham lay near him, soaking up some sunlight. He had appeared three days after the battle, wandering into the city and stomping his hooves until Michael went outside to calm him down. Promising him that Gavin was ok did nothing, so they had tied him up outside Ryan's house, where he was at least close to him and could smell his master on the bowls being taken to Geoff's. The donkey’s head raised as Geoff approached them.

            “How are you feeling?”

            “Honestly? Perfectly fine.”

            “Ryan still thinks that you should have another week before you do anything rigorous.”

            “Yeah, I know.”

            “We need to go soon though. I want to be ready to go by tomorrow.”

            That got Gavin’s attention more than anything else.

            “Go? Go where?”

            “Didn’t the guys tell you?”

            “No. Tell me what?”

            “We’re heading out to Achievement-burg to see my girlfriend and get some supplies. Ryan’s running low on potion materials and I need some stuff for a new game. It’s not too far, but since all of us are going, we don’t want to leave you here alone.”

            “You want me to come with you?”

            “Of course, Gav. If you’re up for it.”

            “Up for it? Bloody hell, of course I am! I’ve always wanted to stop by there, but it’s so out of the way, I’ve never gotten the chance!”

            “Well, there we go then! I’ll tell Ryan that we’re heading out. He won’t be happy, but he’ll be prepared. You should start getting your stuff together.”

            “Will do, boss!”

            Geoff smiled at the nickname, turning away and heading off towards Ryan’s house. Gavin sat back again, staring at his book until he realized that he wasn’t actually reading. Too excited about the next day he stood, beginning a mental checklist of what he would need. He should start getting his bags ready…

—-

            “No.”

            “Ryan, come on.”

            “Geoff, he’s not ready.”

            “Of course he is! The man’s a traveler, not a little kid. You’ve seen the scars first hand, and remember that story he told Michael? He’s fended off and entire pack of wolves before! I didn’t believe it before, but he also saved Michael and Ray from mobs. That takes guts, skill, and experience. He can handle a trip to Achievement-burg.”

            “… He is fairly talented. I just don’t want him getting hurt anymore than absolutely necessary.”

            “I know. None of us do. So rather than cooping him up, pack a medical kit and bring that sword of yours.”

            “You really think he’ll be fine?”

            “Positive. Now, start getting your stuff together. We’ve got an early morning. I’m going to tell the rest of the guys.”

            Ryan watched Geoff leave, slightly disgruntled by the fact that Geoff was overlooking his recommendations. He knew that they needed to go, and he knew how excited the man was to see Griffon again, but still…

            He shook his head. He was being overprotective again. He began sorting through his stores, making sure he had everything he would need. Dried Acacia bark; check. Clean bandages; check. Spare potions store; check…


	11. We're Off To See The Potions Man

They started off early the following morning. Geoff took the lead, Jack talking animatedly with him barely a step behind. Michael and Ray walked next on the two man wide path, silent apart from the random comments on the landscape or something one of them saw. Gavin, Ryan, and Grisham brought up the rear, none of them speaking. Ryan was focusing on Gavin, making sure the man was walking straight and staying upright. Gavin was too focused on the prospect of Achievement-burg to notice.

            He’d heard a lot over the years about the town, from talk of their excellent fishing areas to rumors of a rogue potions man. He had always been star struck by the town, but it was too out of the way to make a appearance on one of his routes. But now, with the guys by his side and an excuse to go there, he was finally going to see the famous town. Giddy with excitement he plodded along, the familiar clip-clop of Grisham’s hooves giving the trip a sense of normality.

            They had just passed the hospital when it started getting dark. Despite his adrenaline, Gavin was beat. He wasn’t in the best shape after taking care of Ray for so long and then being bed ridden himself. He allowed Ryan to call camp on his behalf, making sure to help collect the firewood and make the evening meal before tucking into his bedroll for the night. He only woke up at one point, noticing Ray sitting up on watch. He mentally noted to make sure he took the first watch the next night as he drifted off again.

            The next day was somehow easier than the first, Gavin’s energy renewed by the familiar routine of travel. He made sure to take the first watch that night, assuring Geoff that he would be fine. More than proud of himself three hours later, he woke up Ray and set off for one final night before the town.

            They arrived at midday, the town bustling with a lazy energy. The main street was packed, market stalls and traveling caravans lining the sandstone walkways. The oak houses started behind them, spreading off through the town. Gavin looked around in amazement, carefully hopping up onto the ledge of the center fountain to get a better view over the crowds.

            The group started off in the general direction of Griffon’s shop, the blond still looking around when he heard a voice calling out to him.

            “Gavin! Over here lad!”


	12. Gavin The Humble

He saw a hand waving up over the crowd and started towards it, grinning when he saw who it was. The others, however, were simply shocked.

            A man taller and broader than Jack was making his way towards them, pushing through the throng of people until he was in front of them. He wore an apron over a pair of leather armor leggings and a white wife beater, showing off the fact that he was solid muscle. His biceps were covered in tattoos, spreading up onto his neck and running into his scraggly black beard. Two massive black eyebrows, leading up to his bald, rather tattooed head, covered his small, scrunched eyes.

            Gavin smiled, taking a step towards the man and holding out his hand. “Connor! Good to see you again old friend!”

            The man laughed heartily, ignoring the offered hand and pulling Gavin into a bear hug. Ryan and Michael both took a step forward, only to be stopped by Geoff. Gavin just laughed, patting the man’s arm once he was released.

            “Good to see you too, Gav! It’s been far too long! You didn’t make your annual stop in Tolkom this year.”

            “No, sorry! I was on my way to Ash-burg when I got a little, um… caught up.”

            “I see that.” Connor looked out behind the blond, studying the other five. “Never seen you travel with companions before.”

            “Oh! Right! Connor, these are my friends. They live out in the forest and…”

            He stopped, not really sure what else to say about them. He’d never really thought about how odd they all looked together until he saw them in the crowd. While most of the people around them were in drab workers clothes, the gang stood out like a sore thumb. Geoff in his green painted armor, Ryan in his kilt and tunic, Jack in his short and red shirt with his blue-glassed helmet, Michael in a bear skin and blue backpack, and Ray in his tuxedo, white mask hanging around his neck and his red cape blowing slightly in the breeze. Add Gavin in his creeper skin vest and his green cover, and Grisham, they were probably some of the oddest folks the town got.

            He was still trying to think about what to say when Geoff spoke up. “We’re the folks that live out in Achievement-city. You probably know us as the Hunters.”

            Connor nodded thoughtfully, unaware of the look of confusion Gavin was giving the other man. “Yeah, that does sound familiar. That must make you the boyfriend of the Woods-lady.”

            Geoff smiled. “That would be me.”

            “Well then! Pleasure to meet you lad!” Connor held out a hand, shaking Geoff’s eagerly. “How did you stumble across the boy?”

            “Well, he kind of stumbled across us, in all honesty.”

            “Can we not talk about me like I’m not here?”

            Gavin finally spoke up, grinning at the awkward expression on Geoff’s face. Connor, however, just laughed.

            “You haven’t changed a bit, have you Gav?”

            “What, since I saved your sorry ass in Gristle Castle? No, I haven’t.”

            That made Connor laugh even harder, and Gavin just grinned, shaking his head.

            “How did you two meet?”

            Gavin turned to Geoff, answering his question in a light tone. “Connor and his boys were trapped in the rock caves underneath Gristle Castle while I was there to speak with the princess. I assume you know her?”

            “Princess Barbara, right?”

            “She’s the one. Well, I was there on some business for her and heard the collapse. No one else wanted to go down the well system and lead them out. So I did.”

            “That wasn’t all he did. Fought off a hoard of zombies to get to us, didn’t you?”

            “Well, I wouldn’t say a hoard…”

            “There were more than 10 bodies there when you got us out, lad. Don’t sell yourself short, now.”

            Gavin rubbed the back of his neck, a blush starting to appear on his ears.

            “Ten zombies? Really Gav?”

            It was Ray who said it, looking intrigued as he stared at the blond.

            “Oh, he’s done more than that! Remember those Pirates off the Bell Coast? Mean bunch of crudes, and the boy took out two at once!”

            The blush was now more apparent and he quickly turned the conversation away. “You still did most of the work, Connor. Taking out the Captain and the rudder was all your idea.”

            “But who was it who took out the Captain?”

            The grin on the man’s face told them all who it was and Gav sighed, changing the subject.

            “Anyway, it’s good to see you again Connor. How are Raphael and Timon?”

            “Doin fine, doin fine. Timon’s off with some lass in Ash-burg, but Raphael’s around here somewhere.”

            They spoke for a little more before heading off. Just as they were moving into the crowd, Geoff looked at him.

            “So. Ten zombies, huh?”

            He grinned when Gavin’s ears flushed pink. “He was exaggerating, I promise!”

            They met up with a few other people along the way, and Gavin recognized a fair amount of them. Some were personal friends, and some people who it was best to stay away from. They had to stop at one point so Gavin could make a trade with an old Blacksmith from a town near Ash-burg, but soon enough they had made it off of Main Street and into the housing areas. Geoff had to promise Gavin that they would be staying a few days and that he’d have time to make more trades later to even get him away from the throng of people.

            Eventually they made it to Griffon’s front door. The shop was a two-story building made of Oakwood.  There were windows all around the first floor, looking in on the collection of wooden statues and other trinkets spread over the tables. He couldn’t see into the upstairs, but it looked like a living area, from the layout of the shop.

            Geoff knocked loudly and they waited a moment before the door opened. Griffon was tall, blonde, and terrifying. At least, she was by Gavin’s standards. She had a septum piercing and half of her head was shaved, and she had enough tattoos to rival Geoff’s. She was muscular and beautiful, but lean and roguish at the same time. Gavin stood in awe, watching as the annoyed look on her face immediately turned into a smile at the sight of the group. She laughed, wrapping her arms around Geoff’s neck.

            “Bout time you came for a visit.”

            “Sorry, babe. We got a little caught up.”

            She stepped back, taking in the sight of the others. She gave Jack a hug as Geoff stepped around her and into the shop, patting Ryan on the back and grasping hands with Michael. Ray got a hug as well before he moved around her, leaving Griffon staring at the only man still on the sidewalk. Gavin shifted uneasily under her gaze, noting how even though her smile had dropped, there was still a warmth in her eyes.

            “So. You’re the healer who saved Ray.”

            Gavin did a double take.

            “You heard about that?”

            “Geoff and I send letters to each other. I was getting ready to send the potions man over when he told me that you’d shown up.”

            She stepped forward, standing in front of him. He noticed how she was only an inch shorter than him. She held out her hand and he shook in easily, smiling back when she grinned at him.

            “Welcome, Gavin.”


	13. Dan the Potions Man

She took him around back, showing him where he could brush down Grisham and unsaddle him. After getting him settled she went inside, allowing him some peace. He rubbed the donkey down, giving him food and water and piling the bags in the corner, covering them with hay and a blanket he found. The stable was outside and apparently for Griffon’s customers, but he still didn’t want to take any chances when it came to thievery.

            He hooked his smaller bag onto his belt, putting a few important things into it like the money he had left and his traveling papers for when he saw officials. He always kept them on him, never knowing when he would need them.

            Finally he went inside, using the backdoor and following the voices up the stairs until he found the group. There was a hallways leading straight from the top of the stairs, branching off into four rooms. One, the smallest, looked like a bathroom. The closed door must have been her bedroom. It was spruce wood and had a carving of a spider on it. The third room was the largest, a kitchen and dining room combined. The table was fairly small and made of the same spruce wood as the doors and the cupboards. There were several chairs seated around in.

            Finally, at the end of the hall, he came to the main room. Griffon was sitting on Geoff’s lap in an armchair in the corner while Jack, Ray, and Michael had taken up their positions on the sofa, and Ryan was sitting alone on a two-seater couch. He silently moved into the room, sitting down before anyone but Griffon noticed him.

            “He all settled?”

            “Yup. Thanks again.”

            “Of course.”

            He jumped into their conversation, staying quiet unless he was spoken to directly. Griffon asked him a few questions about what routes he took and the places he’d been, the things he’d done and the people he’d met. The other’s all seemed interested as well so he gave them what they wanted; a few stories from his travels, mostly skipping to the good parts. They relaxed until in was almost sunset, Griffon finally standing and dragging Geoff and Michael off to help her with the cooking. While they went she walked over to the basement stairs, calling down to someone.

            “Get up here and say hi to the boys, you hermit!” A moment later they heard footsteps running up the basement stairs under the shop, then up into the living quarters.

            The man hopped up the stairs two at a time. He was dressed in regular, brown trousers and a green tunic, an elbow length, creeper skin cape hanging over it. He had black gloves on and a black cap, along with a pair of bronze working goggles. Once he reached the top of the stairs he pulled the goggles down around his neck and took his cap off, greeting Geoff and Michael before moving into the main room.

            He entered the room, practically dragging Ray off the couch and into a hug. The smaller man laughed, pushing him off and brushing down his shirt. Ryan stood, shaking hands with him before turning to Gavin.

            “Gav, this is-“

            “Gavin?”

            The man was staring at him with wide eyes, barely able to register the green clad figure sitting on his couch. Gavin stood, grinning widely and nodding at him.

            “It’s been a while, B.”

            That was all he got out before Dan had grabbed him, picking him up and swinging him in a circle. Gavin laughed, hugging the man back until he put him down.

            “A while? God, it’s been years! How’ve you been? Why are you here? How do you know the Hunters?”

            “Whoa, whoa, one question at a time, B. I’ve been fine. I’m here to do some trading and meet Griffon. And the Hunters, well…”

            “He’s joined our group.” Ryan cut in, looking between the two. “Well, at least for the time being. You know,” he said with a wink. “Until he’s bored of us.”

            Gav found himself rolling his eyes. “Yeah. Bored of you lot. That’s entirely possible.” Dan started laughing at the sarcasm in his voice.

            “You haven’t changed a bit, B.”

            They spent the rest of the night catching up. Dan and Gavin had grown up only a town apart, and due to their similar interests in traveling and potions, they had struck up a quick friendship. After Dan had gone to fight the war on the east side, Gavin had taken off to travel and see the places he’d read about. Dan had returned from the war to find his friend gone, but had moved off towards Achievement-burg to work with his potions anyway. He’d been looking for housing when Griffon had approached him, mentioning the empty store under her shop. He’d set up house, quickly settling into his skills, and soon became the potions man of Achievement-burg, the one who Gavin had idolized and always wanted to meet.

            The night quickly moved on to drinking and soon they turned in, camping out in Griffon’s main room. Dan left to his bunk downstairs, Jack heading with him to the couch Dan kept, and Griffon and Geoff went to her room. Ray and Michael took the couches, leaving Ryan and Gavin on a pile of blankets on the floor.

            The older man woke in the middle of the night to shuffling, looking over when he noticed the heat at his side. Gavin had curled up with his back pressing into his ribs, head on the taller man’s bicep. Ryan felt his ears flush, looking around to make sure that Ray and Michael were still asleep. He had half a mind to wake the smaller man up before anyone saw; but then again, he did look comfortable. And it was kind of nice having another person’s heat there.

            He smiled, letting himself drift off again. ‘I’ll wake up first tomorrow,’ he told himself as the darkness greeted him.


	14. Sleep Well?

He woke up because of the snickering more than anything else. Shifting slightly he opened his eyes only to see Michael and Dan standing on the other side of the room. They were staring straight at him and he was confused as to why for a moment before he felt something shift against him. He looked down to see Gavin still curled into him, muttering something in his sleep. Ryan felt his ears flush red. So much for the “waking up before anyone saw them” plan.

            He shooed the other two from the room, gently shaking the blonds’ shoulder.

            “Gav. It’s morning.”

            The smaller boy yawned, sitting up slowly and stretching his arms above his head. It was then that he seemed to notice the close proximity between them, practically jumping away from Ryan as a blushed stretched over his neck.

            “Oh. Um, sorry about that…”

            “No, it’s, uh, it’s no problem.”

            They left it at that, Ryan pointedly ignoring the soft laughter from the doorway that meant that Michael and Dan hadn’t gone as far as he’d thought. They cleaned up the blankets, moving the pile into the closet Griffon had gotten them from the night before. Finally moving into the kitchen, Ryan was disgruntled to see that not only was he not the first one up, but the two of them were the last. And from the grins he was getting from Ray and Jack and the barely concealed laughter from Michael, they had slept a lot longer than everyone.

            He moved passed the table, grabbing the kettle of coffee while Gavin rummaged for mugs. He finally found them, handing two to the other blond. Once they’ve gotten some into them they turned around to join the conversation. Ryan caught Geoff’s eyes on him and raised an eyebrow in question. Geoff smirked slightly.

            “Sleep well?”

            That in itself caused the dam that was Michael’s laughter to burst open, and Ryan had to speak over Ray’s chuckles and Michael’s giggles to change the subject.

            “So, what’re the plans for today?”

            “Well, since Gavin’s so adamant on going to the market, I thought today would be a good day for that.”

            The smaller blond perked up considerably at that, almost immediately getting lost in thought about what he was going to bring by the time the others started talking again. He excused himself shortly after, heading out to the stables to go through his supplies.

            He had scanned the markets the day before to see what people would be interested in, so he quickly compiled everything he would need into a traveling pack, opting to leave Grisham in the stables. No sense in leading the donkey around the crowded market street.

            He grabbed his pack, setting it near the back door as he moved back into the kitchen, slightly downtrodden to find everyone still sitting around the table. He poured himself another cup, standing near the door as long as he could without fidgeting too badly. Almost an hour had passed before Jack stood announcing that he was about ready to get going. Ray stood as well, following the larger man out of the room. Gavin just barely heard Michael, Geoff, and Ryan mentioning that they’d be along later as he trailed after them.

—-

            The market was almost more crowded than it had been the day before. They walked along, Jack looking into the blacksmith’s shop with interest and Ray moving around a couple of cloth stalls before they found something that interested Gavin.

            He had noticed the rather small flower shop the day before, and he wasted no time in heading over, starting up a friendly conversation with the woman working there. Taking a look over the pots, he was astounded to see petals in colors he’d never been able to find before.

            “My lord, you must have everything here!”

            “Well, I wouldn’t say we have everything, exactly, but I am pretty proud of my collection.” She gazed over him rather adoringly as he studied the selection. “You know much about flowers?”

            “I use most of them in one concoction or another.” He grinned at her before pointing to a specific group. “See, these ones here. I’d seen red and yellow Tulips before, but you have white! Orange are less common, I’ve only used them once or twice, and the color pigment in these pink ones are possibly the best I’ve ever seen! Then, these Oxeye’s are rather splendid, and I like the way you set them on the opposite side of the card from the Azure’s; smart strategy, putting the white ones on either side. And god, these poppy’s, are they ever rich! But I must say,” he reached out, plucking a rich purple flower from one of the pots and raising it to his nose. “This Allium is absolutely radiant!”

            The woman was staring at him adoringly, and a small crowd of other women had gathered by the end of his spiel.  Ray moved forward a step, about ready to drag Gavin away from the stall himself. The green clad man held out the flower to the stall keeper, but she raised her hands in protest.

            “Keep it.” He reached for his purse before she stopped him again. “Consider it a gift.”

            He grinned widely, taking another sniff of the flower and thanking her, though she bashfully waved off his comments. He pulled out a few other flowers, pulling together a rather fine bouquet by the time he was finished, sticking the Allium directly in the center before paying for it. As the three of them finally walked away Ray turned around, catching sight of the entire group of women following their progress and he rolled his eyes. He had never really thought of Gavin as a ladies man before, but then again, he wasn’t bad looking, he traveled, and obviously knew a thing or two about flowers. He could see why they would be attracted to him.

            They made a quick stop back by Griffon’s shop to pick up the others. It was then that Gavin gifted the vase to her, as a “little gift for allowing them to stay.” Though she had a tough demeanor, no person could resist a colorful vase of flowers. She gave him a hug, filling the thing with water and setting it in the center of the, now empty, table before gazing at it lovingly. Geoff chose that moment to appear, asking who had gotten the flowers before receiving a smack on the arm.

            “Why don’t you bring me flowers anymore?” Before he could respond she had moved away again, patting Gavin on the shoulder. “Looks like you chose a good addition Geoff. At least one of you boys knows how to make a girl happy.”

            It was obvious that she was half joking about it as she moved out of the room, but it didn’t stop Geoff from sending the now red Gavin a half glare.

            “Really? You fucking suck up.”

            The blond shook his head, holding up his hands in protest. “I swear, I just thought-“

            Geoff cut him off with a roll of his eyes. “I know, I know. Come on; lets grab the others and get going.”


	15. Sleezy McCreepbag

The group made their way through the center of the market, dodging passerby and taking a look into any stall that caught their interest. Gavin stopped a few times to make a trade or buy a trinket, but mostly he just glanced over the selections of sparkling jewelry, food baskets, and tools that lined the streets.

            At some point they managed to lose sight of Gavin, trusting the boy to take care of himself as they continued roaming the street. He caught up with them a few hours later, babbling on about the amazing man he’d met.

            “Who?”

            “There’s a performing tent just a few blocks down! The man in the potions cart saw me looking over his selection and offered to show me a few extras. Check this out!” He pulled a small vile out from the pocket of his vest. It was roughly the size of his index finger, a light blue in color with what looked like a clear liquid filling it to the brim. The cork had a blue thread connected to it, a small silver half moon hanging from the end. “Varinium!”

            None of them had any reaction other than Ryan, who gasped and peered more closely at the bottle. “Not possible…”

            “Very possible! He let me watch it work!”

            “How, exactly, did he do that?”

            “Well…” The blond subconsciously moved his arm a little, covering his forearm with his cloak. Ryan reached out, tugging on the other man’s arm until the two-inch line was visible.

            “Gavin, you didn’t!”

            “Trust me Ryan, it worked!”

            “You let him cut you open and drip a potion on it? Some guy you just met?”

            “Well, I mean, I made the cut.”

            “That doesn’t help!”

            Geoff cut in then. “What exactly did he do, and what is that potion?”

            Ryan didn’t look away from his inspection of Gavin’s arm as he spoke. “Varinium is an extreme healing potion. It’s supposed to sure anything short of death. And to test it, Gavin let some guy he didn’t know drip a potion that could easily have been fake onto an open wound.”

            “What?!”

            “It wasn’t like that!”

            “Ugh, fine. Fine. You can take care of yourself.” Ryan breathed heavily out through his nose before continuing. “So how much did you get it for?”

            “50! Quite a deal, right?”

            “Extremely. Why’d he give it to you that cheap?”

            “I’m not sure. He sure was a nice bloke though, and he probably doesn’t get a ton of customers in a place like this. Especially with Dan here.”

            Ray took a step forward, looking at the little vile. “What else was over there?”

            “Oh they have loads of stuff! Apparently, since it’s the big town market week, they brought an entire carnival!”

            Ray blinked at him once before turning to Geoff. “Can we go over there? Please? Now?”

            The older man almost laughed at the pleading look of excitement on Ray’s face.

            “Yeah, why don’t we all head over there for a while?”

            The others readily agreed and they took off, following Gavin down the streets until they could see the colored lights appearing over the tops of the buildings. Ray and Michael split off to go find the dumbest games they could, while Jack followed slowly after then, looking at all the stalls and booths that had been set up. Geoff quickly took off after them, ready to drag Jack off to find the most dangerous thing they could do together. Once they were alone, Ryan turned to Gavin.

            “Why don’t you show me this potion stall?”

            The green clad man readily agreed, eager to show Ryan the assortment. They moved quickly through the crowd, almost nearing the end of the road before they came across the caravan. It was covered in a shiny blue paint, a cliche yellow moon and star on the front of it, on either side of the word “POTIONS” in large, gold letters. They moved forward, getting right up to the counter before the man appeared from the back curtain.

            He was dressed in a midnight blue tuxedo, a purple and gold cape hanging from his shoulders. He was almost as tall as Ryan, but nearly as thin as Gavin, and was clean-shaven with long, dark hair. He was fairly handsome and had an attitude that said he knew it too. His light blue eyes locked on Ryan, looking him up and down with an expression of contempt before he focused a grin on Gavin.

            “Ah, Gavin, my best customer! So good to see you again so soon!”

            “Pleasure to see you too! I just wanted to introduce my friend, Ryan. He’s a better potions man than me, though he’d never admit to it.”

            He said it with an easy grin, unaware of the slightly strained look the man’s face took on when he started talking about Ryan. He fixed the larger man with an unimpressed look that he got right back.

Gavin had turned away to look at the jars under the glass again and wasn’t paying attention to their conversation.

            “So. Ryan, is it?”

            “Yes. I would ask who you are, but I’m not entirely interested.”

            “Humph. Right. You look familiar; have we met before?”

            “Well, probably not personally, but you might’ve heard of me.”

            He got a questioning look in return and elaborated. “I’m Ryan Haywood, resident of Achievement City and honorary member number Five of the Hunters.”

            That caused the man to gasp, his eyes widening. “Of course, how could I not have seen it before! I saw you all last time I was here, doing your little tricks on the Parade floats!”

            The last time a large crowd had been gathered in Achievement-burg was for the annual Harvest Festival. The Hunters had been perched atop one of the floats going down the street. Geoff and Michael had been swinging swords, Ray had had his bow, and Jack and Ryan had battle-axes. The crowd had cheered as they went by. Everyone around knew of the Hunters, seeing as they were positioned as the Guardians and Owners of Achievement forest and everything in it.

            “Well, yes, you would have seen me then.”

            “Then why are you here with Gavin and not your group?”

            “I am with my group.”

            He took a minute to process the statement. “You’re saying…”

            “Number Six.”

            “He didn’t say anything.”

            “We usually don’t.”

            It was then that they realized that Gavin was staring at them, eyes wide.

            “Ryan…”

            “We should probably get out of here, Gav.”

            “Wait wait wait! Don’t you want to have a look first?”


	16. Friendly and "Friendly"

            “Well…”

            “Oh, come on Ryan. They’re amazing!”

            The man looked over, knowing that he didn’t stand a chance. Between the persistence of Gavin and the allure of an entire collection of potions, he was drawn to the case, looking over the exotic liquids. He was about halfway through the case again when he looked up, about to point something out to Gavin when he caught sight of the two of them. Gavin had his hand on the counter and the man’s hand was covering it as the two leaned over. Gavin was giggling and it looked like the brunet was whispering something into his ear.

            Ryan stood up straight, about to call them out when a loud cough sounded from behind them. Both Ryan and Gavin turned, finding the other four Hunters standing there, Michael in the lead. And he had his sword drawn. It was resting loosely at his side, but it still caused a flash of fear to run through anyone who saw him.

            “Gavin. We ready to go?”

            His voice left no room for argument and Gavin nodded, looking at Ryan. He was surprised to see the older man’s jaw clenched as he nodded as well. They walked away, everyone following after except for Michael. By the time they’d noticed he wasn’t following they turned, finding him jogging towards them, a satisfied smirk on his face, leaving behind the now pale shopkeeper.

            “What did you do to him?”

            “Oh, nothing. We just had a little chat.”

            They continued until they were sure they were out of earshot before Michael turned to Gavin. “What was that?”

            “What was what?”

            “Why in hell were you letting that creep blatantly hit on you?”

            They were all watching the green clad man as he blinked, looking between them all. “He… what? He was hitting on me?”

            They would have thought that he was playing stupid, other than the fact that _this was Gavin._ Ray still remembered the way he had easily spoken to the women pining after him, and it was easy to imagine him not knowing the difference between being friendly and being _friendly._ Then again, wasn’t he supposed to be a traveler? Going everywhere, meeting everyone? How had that not happened before?  
            ‘Oh. It probably had.’ Michael felt a sigh escape his lips as he rubbed his temples. The man might be less observant than they originally though.

            “Yes Gavin. Normally, when people rub your hands, smile at you like that, and whisper in your ear, they’re hitting on you.”

            “…Oh. Well, I did think that was a bit odd.”

            That caused Jack to sigh and Ray to throw his hands up into the air in exasperation. Finally, Geoff spoke up.

            “Alright, Gavin’s fucked up perception of friendliness aside, we should probably be getting back. It’ll be getting dark soon.”

            They made their way back through the streets, watching the market goers packing up their stalls in the gathering darkness. Michael made sure to keep an eye on Gavin the entire way back.


	17. And Then There's Gavin...

They decided to relay the story to Griffon and Dan that night at supper. While the blonde just rolled her eyes at the antics, (“The guys in that group are all like that.”) Dan was practically roaring with laughter.

“God, you haven’t changed at all, have you Gav? Reminds me of the blacksmith’s daughter.” Gavin flushed red at that, groaning as he realized the story was about to be told.

He looked around at the group. “When we were younger, there was this girl in my town. She was pretty all right, with long blonde hair and blue eyes. Her family was fairly wealthy, and oh man, did she have the largest crush on Gavin. So one day, he’s over to visit me. I’m leaning out my window, watching him come up the road. Just before he made it to my yard he stopped, having a chat with her. I could only hear about half of what they were saying, but she was blushing and fiddling with her skirt, so I could guess what was going on.

“Then, I hear her say “I really like you, Gavin” and I watched him, without missing a beat, pat her on the shoulder and say “I like you too, Anna. You’re a really good friend; practically one of the boys!” Then, he says goodbye and walks off, entirely oblivious to the stunned look on her face. Of course, he was mortified when I told him later what she’d really meant, but it was too late, wasn’t it?”

By the end of the story Gavin had his head down on the table and Ray and Jack were laughing fairly hard. Michael was grinning and shaking his head at Gavin, while Geoff, Griffon, and Ryan just smiled at the green clad man’s misfortune.

The night kept going, full of stories and laughter. Nearing the end of the night they got on the topic of Elements, after Dan asked Geoff about his tattoo. They went around the table, sharing that part of their pasts. Griffon was also a wisp, which explained how Geoff and her were able to communicate between Achievement-burg and Achievement City. Dan wasn’t an Element, same as Jack and Ray. Everyone there knew that Ryan was a Gem and Michael was a neutral.

“And then of course, you have Gav.” Dan said it in such a nonchalant tone that no one noticed what he’d said at first.

“What about Gav?”

Dan looked around at the confused faces before focusing on Gavin, noticing the slight look of panic and pleading in his eyes. They’d known each other long enough for Dan to know that Gavin really just wanted him to shut up.

“Well, he’s not really good around Elements, you know? After the whole Flare thing back home and then the Drop in the forest when we were kids, he’s not really a fan.”

Gavin could have kissed him. He’d already told Ryan that a Flare was the reason he’d had to leave home, and there actually had been a small male Drop that they’d met in the forest as kids who’d almost accidentally drowned him. Gavin looked down, pretending to be embarrassed as Dan retold the story of the boy. In reality, he was just relieved.

That night, as they were settling down for sleep, Gavin pulled Dan outside towards the stables.

“You haven’t told them, have you?”

“No. There’s no subtle way to drop something like that.”

“They’re going to find out at some point.”

“I know. Especially after today.”

“What happened today?”

“When we were talking to the man at the cart, Ryan…” He paused to swallow, looking at the ground. “Ryan told him that I was Hunter Six.”

“And? Aren’t you?”

“No! I don’t think… Maybe? I guess I might be, but I wasn’t really aware til then. They haven’t said anything…”

“Maybe they’re just waiting for the right time.”

“I suppose.”

“Look, Gav.” He laid a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “If you don’t want me to tell, then I won’t. That’s up to you. But, they’re going to find out sometime, in someway. You might want to make sure that it’s the way you want it.”

Gavin nodded, not responding as his friend turned, entering the shop again. He sighed looking up at the twinkling lights in the sky. What on earth was he going to do?

 

****  
  



	18. Hunter Six

They didn’t stay much longer in Achievement-burg, leaving a day after. Grisham was considerably lighter, as Gavin had traded his goods mostly for money. Geoff had gotten the materials he needed for their new game and packed them into one of the empty saddlebags. Dan was off with a sick boy a few blocks down, but Griffon stopped them just before they were off, saying quick goodbyes to the boys before turning to Geoff. She held out a small potion and a bag, letting him take them before explaining.

            “You remember when Thug’s Camp is, right?”

            “Of course.”

            “Take these to them, while you’re on your way back. Lindsay was pretty sick the last time Dan rode out.”

            Geoff nodded, packing the bag safely with his supplies and sticking the vile into one of his tunic pockets.

            They said goodbye with a kiss, only pulling away because of the catcalls that’d started to erupt from Michael and Gavin. Geoff pulled away, yelling at them to get a move on, but he was blushing under his mustache. Gavin laughed, turning to wave goodbye to Griffon as they made their way off into the forest.

            “So, where exactly are we going Geoff?”

            “Thug’s Camp. It’s a spot where a group of our friends stay, just out here in the woods.”

            “Like a rogue’s camp?”

            “More or less. There’s only three of them though.”

            Thought that caught Gavin’s attention, he kept quiet about it, following dutifully behind Michael. A rogue’s camp with three people? Most camps had anywhere between ten and twenty. But three?

            They walked almost the entire day down the shaded forest paths. Just as dusk was fast approaching through the leaves Geoff stopped, holding up a hand to still the others.

            “Let me.”

            He stepped forward, his boots crunching on the leaves below his feet. He walked slowly, stopping only when there was the sound of a longbow releasing and a thud, a quivering arrow appearing between Geoff’s feet.

            “Identify yourself.”

            “Hunter One, Geoffrey Ramsey, resident and owner of Achievement City, Guardian of Achievement Forest.”

            “And who’s with you, Geoffrey?”

            “Hunter two, Jack Pattillo, Hunter three, Michael Jones, Hunter four, Ray Narvaez, Hunter Five, Ryan Haywood.”

            “And the last one?”

            “Hunter Six.”

            There was silence for a moment before a soft scraping noise and a light thud. A boy dropped in front of them, with light blond hair and fair skin. He was at least a little shorter than Ray and the same size as Gavin, with a rich blue twin tail cape and hood over his white shirt. A pair of matching blue trousers led down to his legs, where a pair of white leather boots were bound up to his knees. He had white wrappings on both of his forearms, binding his hands and going up to his elbows. He had a blue headband on, pulling back his blond bangs, and a longbow was clenched in his fist. A half full quiver of arrows on a black strap was strung over his shoulder.

            “Six?”

            Geoff smiled, taking a few steps forward and hugging the boy. “Good to see you again Kerry. And yes, Hunter Six.”

            He beckoned Gavin forwards from the back of the groups.

            “This is Gavin Free. Gavin, this is Kerry.”

            “Pleasure to meet you, Kerry. That’s quite a weapon you’ve got there. Looks almost… that’s Garcian, isn’t it?”

            The smaller boys eyes lit up. “Yeah, it is! Wow, you don’t usually meet people who know a bow maker by the sight of their work.”

            “Yeah, well, you know. I mean,” he slung his own bow off his back, a shade darker than Kerry’s and polished to perfection, with a slightly more noticeable curve. “I prefer Willowson myself.”

            Kerry studied the bow, fascinated for a moment before Geoff spoke up. “We can talk about weapons back at camp, hmm? After I’ve given Lindsay the medicine I brought for her?”

            The boy looked up at him, nodding once before turning and walking along the path. Ray and Michael jogged up to him, walking on either side as they exchanged greetings. Gavin led Grisham after the group, entering the camp with no more difficulty.

            He looked around at the circle of tightly knit trees as they passed through the entrance. The birch was wrapped closely together, making entrance from any other direction impossible. There was a fire pit in the center, three logs surrounding it, laying on their sides. A pair of chests sat nearby, locked and keyed. Other than the small stack of bedrolls next to it, that was all that was there.

            Kerry showed him where to tie Grisham’s lead before grabbing the bag from him, setting it next to their things before leading them outside the circle again and around the back of it, moving through the trees for a bit before arriving at a river. Kerry ran forward, taking a flying leap and landing directly on the rock in the center, jumping again and landing softly on the opposite bank. Geoff followed suit, slower and less gracefully, but he still made it to the other bank.

            Gavin took a step back, sprinting full out and taking one, two steps before launching himself off the bank. Since he was fairly used to flying through the trees, he wasn’t that good of a jumper, but he still managed to make it to the rock, even if just barely. Looking around, he realized that the other bank was farther than the first one. There was no way he was going to make that…

            He looked up, noticing the vine hanging not too far above him. It was hanging quite low from it’s branch but he didn’t mind, jumping to grab it before pulling himself hand over hand, taking only two minutes to reach the branch about thirty feet up. He moved quickly, crouching along the branch before he made it to the trunk. He practically threw himself outward, catching the next branch and swinging himself before letting go, catching another one a little farther down. It took him no more than a minute to get to the ground, pulling a back flip off the last branch and landing in front of the other two, wiping off his hands. Geoff rolled his eyes, muttering something akin to “Show off” as he crossed his arms, while Kerry just grinned at him.

            “Hey, I have an idea…”


	19. I Believe I Can Fly

“What kind of idea?”

            “Geoff, we need to head to the Sun Rocks. You know how to get there?”

            “Yes. Why?”

            The younger man ignored the question, turning with a grin to the other blond. “Gavin, you seem to be pretty good in trees. How about a race?”

            The prospect itself made Gavin smile. “Where?”

            “They’re just…” He pointed off into the distance, where they could see the tops of what looked like mountains peeking over the tree line. “Right there. First one there without touching the ground wins.”

            Gavin turned to him, sizing him up. He wasn’t one to underestimate an opponent too quickly. “You’re going to win because you already know the best path.”

            “Doesn’t mean it won’t still be fun!”

            He gave a laugh, readying himself up. “Well, alright then. Let’s go.”

            And like that he was off, launching off the rock in front of him to grab the lowest branch on the next tree, hoisting himself up and running down the length of it before Kerry even started moving. Hey, if the kid wanted to play dirty, so would he.

            He occasionally saw a flash of blue next to him or in the tree over as he ran and jumped, pulling himself up onto branch after branch. Kerry was at least keeping pace with him, and it was then that Gavin realized: the boy was toying with him, making him think he had a chance before ripping it out from under him. Well. He could take advantage of that.

            He saw his opportunity when he caught sight of the vines up ahead, thinking quickly. Kerry would have used the vine at the river if he could have. He had the instinct to show off; that much Gavin could tell. So when he saw the vines coming up fast, he knew he was in his element.

            He snagged one while running passed, taking it in both hands and leaping. They were going over a swamp, which meant that Kerry needed to go higher to stay in the trees. Gavin could fly along the bottom, soaring from vine to vine with no problems, making the distance between Kerry and him larger and larger. By the time the swamp was behind him, he couldn’t even see the blue clad figure anymore.

            When he hit the trees he took off again, moving as quickly as he could, glad when he saw the rocks growing larger. Without warning the forest ended and Gavin squeaked, leaping out of the tree line and managing a rather sloppy roll. He hissed as he made contact with the ground, landing heavily on his shoulder, but he stood up uninjured. Moving forward, he touched the rock face with one hand just as Kerry came flying out of the trees. He knew his shoulder was going to be bruised from the roll, but it had been worth it to see Kerry’s face, downtrodden when he caught sight of Gavin leaning casually against the rocks.

            “How did you do that?”

            “Do what?”

            “The vines! I’ve never seen anything like that!”

            Gavin shrugged. “We had an empty church in my hometown. My friend and I tied ropes to the rafters and swung on them any chance we got.”

            Kerry shook his head, finally coming level with the man and pushing himself up onto the rock, sitting down. They had to wait for Geoff to catch up anyway; might as well get comfortable.

            They sat, chatting idly for a while before Gavin saw something that caught his attention. He turned to the other man to get a closer look, making out a green tattoo peeking out from the back of his neck.

            “You’re…?”

            Kerry glanced down for a minute before he realized what the other man was referring to. “A Gem? Yeah. I don’t really show it, and it’s probably weird that I prefer the ground, but yeah. I am.”

            “Huh. Didn’t expect that.”

            “What about you?”

            “Hmm?”

            “I’d guess a Wisp for you, if anything.”

            “Oh! No; not a Wisp.”

            “Cool. You’re lucky, trust me.”

            Gavin looked down, allowing a sigh to escape him. “Yeah. I know.”

            They both looked up when the caught a glimpse of Geoff leaving the tree line and stood, conversation over. The older man yelled at the two of them for taking off so far without him, but both blonds’ just grinned. Kerry turned to the side of the rocks that the sun was beating down on, walking in the lead at a fairly leisurely pace.

            “She’s just over here.”


	20. Lindsay

He could see why they called them The Sun Rocks. They were at a point of clearing from the surrounding forest, one stone the size of a mountain soaring upwards in the center. Several smaller, vertical rocks leaned against it, propping it up while some even smaller, flatter stones sat horizontal on the ground. The flat ones were still tall, and Gavin was looking down a six-foot drop before they’d even made it onto the expanse of the first stone. He followed quickly after Kerry and Geoff as they neared the center stones, making sure to keep away from the edge.

            They heard the music before anything else. The tune was slow and soft, drifting over the rocks towards them. It didn’t take them long to find the source of it though.

            They rounded the edge of the rocks and Gavin looked around, catching sight of her quickly. She was sitting cross-legged on an outcropping, the sunlight making her hair shine like flames as a slight breeze picked it off her face and moved it gently into the air. She wore a pair of black flats, resting in front of her. Her black shorts reached her knees, and she wore black tank top with a white Wisp emblem on the front and detached white sleeves, leading to the silver flute pressed to her lips. Her eyes were closed and a look of soft concentration was formed on her face as the notes flowed from the instrument.

            Kerry had a look of appreciation on his face, and Geoff’s eyes were closed, a soft smile on his lips. Gavin stared at the woman in awe. She was nothing like what he had been expecting. The sunlight beat on his face as he stared up at her, maybe ten feet off the ground, the flute shining in her hands. Her song picked up a little and he noticed that the wind tugging at his hair grew slightly stronger.

            He reached up, unclipping his cloak and letting it fall to the ground behind him, taking Geoff’s lead and closing his eyes to enjoy the music, the sun and breeze on his arms, and the moment of peace.

            The song continued for a while more before fading off, the breeze dying down slowly as it did. Gavin kept himself still, opening his eyes slowly as the magic drifted away. He glanced over, seeing Kerry and Geoff’s eyes still closed before turning to Lindsay, nearly jumping when he caught sight of her staring straight at him.

            “Who’re you?”

            She didn’t sound like he’d expected either. After the music, he’d thought that she’d have a light, airy voice. Rather, it was deeper than he would have guessed.

            “I’m Gavin.”

            “Why are you here?”

            She turned to Geoff as he opened his eyes to speak up.

            “He works with us now.”

            “A new Hunter, huh? Really?”

            “Yeah.”

            “After what happened with Kdin?”

            “Yes, Lindsay. Even after Kdin.”

            Kerry was staring at his feet, obviously not wanting to get involved in the conversation. Gavin looked back and forth between Lindsay and Geoff.

            “Who’s Kdin?”

            “Kdin was a guy who was going to join the Hunters. And then he left. End of story.” Geoff turned away from Gavin, facing Lindsay again.

            “So, Geoff. What brings you here?”

            “Griffon asked me to bring you your medicine.”

            At that the redhead grinned, standing immediately and hopping gracefully down from her perch, taking the small path of rocks on the other side of the outcropping to stand in front of them. Gavin could now see that she was only a few inches shorter than him, Kerry’s height, though slightly thicker. She stood there with a grin, leaning forward and bouncing on the balls of her feet for a moment.

            “So?”

            “We should go back to camp first,” Kerry supplied, ignoring the glare Lindsay shot him. “You need food with it.”

            He turned before she could argue, leading the way back towards the forest. Gavin scrambled to pick up his cloak and follow the three, hopping off rocks as he went. Lindsay walked level with Kerry after they hit the tree line, leaving Geoff and Gavin to follow behind. The blond watched her closely, making sure that she wasn’t physically hurt and didn’t need attention.

            By the time they were halfway across the swamp Gavin stumbled, picking a bad log to walk on and not managing to catch himself before he went tumbling into the water. He sat there, a foot deep, spitting swamp water out of his mouth and grumbling at his rotten luck, thanking every deity in existence that he had left his bags back at the camp.

            It was Lindsay who helped him out of the water, Geoff and Kerry too busy laughing at him. The blue clad Gem was almost doubled over, and Gavin bitterly noticed that the man was now quick to jump on any reason to make fun of him since he’d won their little race.

            “Don’t mind him. He just takes any excuse to laugh at people.”

            Lindsay was watching Kerry as well.

            “Oh, I don’t mind,” Gavin said, loud enough that he knew Kerry could hear. “After all, he needs to take his mind off the fact that I beat him at his own game, doesn’t he?”

            Kerry was scowling by the end of it, and Gavin smirked at him. He could tell that the smaller blond wasn’t going to let it go as he turned around and practically stalked off. He was looking forward to future challenges from the bow wielder.

            Gavin shook out his cloak, holding up and ringing out the sodden material before he began to follow Lindsay, who was showing him the quickest and safest way through the swamp. They hopped from log to log together, finally making it to the other side. Lindsay laughed as Gavin let out a whoop, particularly glad that he’d made it without further ordeal.

            They chatted idly the rest of the way back to camp. Gavin learned that Lindsay had become a member of Thug’s Camp thanks to Dan. She’d been in Achievement-burg looking for him, hoping that one of his potions could heal the problems in her chest. It turned out that she had suffered a severe injury that caused her breathing to be irregular. That was practically unheard of and unbearable, especially for a Wisp. She’d sought out the potions master, who’d come up with a concoction that would clear her airways for a certain amount of time, allowing her to breath properly.

            He’d tried to convince her to stay in the town, where he could keep an eye on her, but she’d refused.

            “I can’t stand towns. Too many busy-bodies,” she said, huffing her hair out of her face. Gavin grinned as he watched, already taking even more of a liking to her.

            She’d been told about the two men living in the forest. One had been sent out there by the Hunters, as kind of a minor Guardian, and the second had been under the protection of Griffon and moved there to make himself happier. Lindsay had joined them, and though it had been rough, they’d eventually worked out the kinks, and she was more than happy to be there.

            Whenever she was running low on the medicine, Dan would head out and bring her more.  “Only this time,” she said as they began to approach the circle of trees. “He sent you guys out here.”

            Gavin nodded, thinking it over as she left, catching up with Kerry. The traveler stood in the opening, watching the two of them until he felt a hand descend on his shoulder. He looked up to see Jack smiling at him.

            “There’s one Thug you haven’t met yet.”

            The larger man turned and Gavin followed suit, greeting the final member of Thugs Camp.


	21. Once Upon a Time

_“Dan!” Gavin practically squeaked, lifting his arms up as though he thought he could catch his friend if he fell. Dan descended a little, flipping upside-down on the rope hanging from the church rafters and smiled at Gavin._

_“I’ll be fine, B. I do this all the time, as you well know.”_

_“Yeah, but your arm…”_

_Dan saw the other glance at the bandage still gracing his wrist and sighed, pulling himself upright and swinging back and forth until he had enough momentum, leaping towards another rope near him and grabbing hold. His leg wrapped around it, giving him a foothold as he looked back down at the worried Gavin on the ground._

_“It’s a burn. Not like I broke it or anything.”_

_Gavin looked down at his feet, obviously still worried. But he knew Dan could handle himself, and, even though he was only twelve, he was more responsible than fourteen-year-old Gav._

_“I know.”_

_They stayed in the church a while longer, Gavin not touching the ropes until Dan threatened to “drag him up there by his collar.” After a while, however, he got used to it again, swinging and jumping like he always did. He giggled as he swung in a circle upside-down, the cobblestone walls blurring around him. He laughed along with Dan as he climbed through the rafters, eventually settling in a spot._

_“Well,” Dan said as they sat in the beams. “Nothing like a swim to cool us off, hm?”_

_Gavin smiled, already moving to work his way down to the floor again. “True enough.”_

_They made their way out back, heading into the woods a ways before hitting the stream. It was almost large enough to be a river, but since it was run-off water from the mountains, it wasn’t quite moving fast enough. Gavin walked over, clearing the moss and mushrooms off of a stone before stripping off his shirt and setting it down. His shoes and pants went next, leaving him in nothing but his swim shorts. He wore them nearly constantly in the summers, preparing for any time he might need them._

_Dan joined him, insisting that the bandaged would be fine. “It’s a burn, B. What’s better for it than cool water?”_

_The blond couldn’t argue with that and soon the two were splash about, diving and swimming as gracefully as two pre-pubescent boys could manage in moving water. Gavin wasn’t the greatest swimmer, which was why they mostly stuck with the stream and not the ocean. As long as he could touch the bottom, he was fine, but he was shit at treading water._

_Dan was the first one to notice the water rising. He had glanced over at the bank to see that it was now lapping at the edges of the rock they’d set their things on. Confused, he turned to Gavin, only to see that where he’d once been able to see his friend’s stomach, now only his shoulders were visible._

_“Maybe we should get out now…”_

_“Why?”_

_“I think the water’s rising.”_

_“Oh, don’t be daft B. The stream water doesn’t rise.”_

_“But Gavin, look at-“_

_He didn’t get any farther. The rushing sound hit his ears before he turned, looking down to the bend in the stream just as the wall of water came barreling around it. His first move was for Gavin, attempting to reach the blond before the wall hit, but he didn’t move fast enough, and he just barely saw the terrified look on Gavin’s face as they were struck._

_Dan tried to ignore the water being pushed up his nose, keeping his head underwater and, hopefully, away from most of the current. He rose when he couldn’t hold his breath any longer, noting just how far downstream they’d gone in that short period of time before he saw Gavin. The blond was struggling to stay up, flailing in the water, and Dan began to make his way over. The water was slowing down and evening out, but swimming upstream was still difficult._

_He grabbed Gavin, keeping him up as he swam for shore. He laid his friend’s panting body out on the sand, making sure he was all right before heading back to the water._

_Only there wasn’t water. Where the stream had been was just a bed of mud, shining slightly in the afternoon sun filtering through the trees. He climbed down the bank, standing barefoot in the mud. It took a moment before he registered the sound of footsteps, looking back at Gavin. But the other boy was still lying there._

_The footsteps got closer and he looked around, finally setting his eyes on the source. Another boy was stumbling towards him, obviously exhausted. His shorts were soaked and he was barefoot as well. Dan took a step towards him and grabbed him as he fell, watching the other smile slightly in thanks._

_He brought the boy over to where Gav was lying, sitting him on the sand to regain his strength. He had just let go when he noticed the tattoo, turning the boy’s head and focusing on it. Dark blue, swirling designs laced his left cheek, leading into his short, brown hair. His pale skin created huge contrast, and Dan could make out the word “Caleb” in the designs._

_“You’re…”_

_He knew the look of an Element tattoo when he saw one, even though he’d never met a Drop before. But why had he been in the disaster? Unless…_

_“You started it.” The boy looked up at him fearfully and he knew that his hunch was right. “You started the wave.”_

_“I didn’t mean… It was an accident.” He quickly got defensive, glancing between the, now awake, Gavin, and Dan. “You have to know an Element who can’t control their powers! Someone! Lots of Gems can’t! You can’t blame me for this!”_

_His voice was rising, and Dan reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. “I don’t blame you, per-say. But you almost killed my friend. He doesn’t swim well.”_

_He left it at that, standing and tugging on Gavin’s arm. The blond was still weak, but Dan got him standing, and they left Caleb on the bank of the empty stream, heading back towards the village as fast as they could go._


	22. Caleb

            Gavin stared at the other man. He was tall, nearly as tall as Gavin himself, but smaller. He wore a white tunic and white shorts over red leggings, and a pair of white shoes. A red cross was on the breast of his shirt, marking him as a member of a hospital staff, which was odd, seeing as the nearest hospital was the Achievement City one, and there wasn’t any staff there. That Gavin knew of, that is.

            The short brown hair was kind of familiar to him, as were the blue eyes, but it wasn’t until he focused on the man’s cheek that the memories came flooding back to him.

            He was suddenly fourteen, sitting weakly on the bank of a washed away stream, staring at another boy. The brunet was no older than Gavin, with wet, messy brown hair and blue eyes. And a tattoo. A large, swirling, blue tattoo, covering his cheek in designs that went all the way to his hairline. “Caleb” was written in the center, marking him as a Drop.

            Gavin blinked, bringing himself back to the present. Except he was still staring at the tattoo. Caleb. The Drop who’d nearly killed him almost a decade ago was standing in front of him with a smile on his face and his hand stretched out.

            He barely heard it, but Geoff was asking him why he wasn’t shaking Caleb’s hand. He’d almost died that day. It was the reason he never swam. Why he’d stay away from water whenever he could. Why he almost never associated with Drops.

            And here was one, right in front of him. The thought registered just as the other man lowered his hand. So Gavin did the only thing he could think to do.

            He took a step back and slid as casually as possible behind Jack, putting the larger man between them. He knew he probably looked like a scared child, but he didn’t really care.

            Caleb stared at him, and Jack looked at him oddly over his shoulder. He looked down, hugging his arms to his chest as he let out a soft “Hi,” studying the ground intently.

            “Um… Hi?”

            The brunet was obviously confused, and he almost looked hurt as he watched Gavin hide behind Jack. Eventually Geoff just shook his head and moved into the camp, Lindsay meeting up with him as he made his way to the bag he’d brought. Caleb turned and followed them as well, eager to get away from Gavin and his odd reaction. Jack finally turned around, giving Gavin a look that was practically begging for an explanation.

            The blond sighed. “Long story short, I’ve met him before.”

            He turned around and made his way towards Grisham before Jack could say anything else, unsaddling and beginning to rub down the donkey. It was relaxing to him, and before he knew it, all the stress from the meeting the Drop again was gone.

\---

            It wasn’t long before the group was sitting down for food. Geoff had decided that it was too dark to travel all the way back to Achievement City, so they were staying the night in the camp. Kerry was sitting on one log with Michael and Ray. The blond was talking animatedly, waving his hands around in the air, and the two lads were laughing at whatever story was being told.

            Lindsay, Geoff, and Jack were sitting quietly together next to them, the two Hunters roasting meat on sticks while the redhead prepared the pot hanging above it. Ryan and Caleb sat on the final log, simply watching the others with content, quiet expressions.

            The brunet looked up as Gavin entered, brushing donkey hair from his cloak. He didn’t even see Caleb stand until the man had him by the arm and was dragging him out of the camp. He was so surprised that he didn’t even fight back, only getting uncomfortable when he was far enough from the camp to be out of hearing distance and Caleb sat him down on a rock, watching him.

            The white clad man took a moment to look him over before speaking.

            “Look, I’m not entirely sure why you don’t like me, but I’d really like to know. Jack said that we’d met,” Gavin blinked at that; Jack had told him? “But I don’t remember you.”

            The blond scoffed, looking away. “Of course you don’t remember me. I wasn’t the one who pulled you out of the river, I’m just the one you almost drowned in it.”

            He hadn’t meant to say that last part out loud, but the look of surprise he got from the other man was worth it.

            “Drowned?”

            “We were kids. It was a long time ago, a long ways from here. Drop it.”

            Caleb was still staring at him.

            “You’re that-“

            “Caleb, Gavin, foods up!”

            Lindsay’s shout from the camp was enough to startle both of them, and Gavin stood.

            “Look, I’m willing to forget it. Just… promise me that you’ve gotten control of your powers?”

            “Of course I have. Like you said, I was a kid then.”

            The blond smiled for the first time since Caleb had met him, and he held out his hand.

            “Well then, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

            Caleb smiled, shaking his hand.

            “You as well, Gavin.”

            They walked back to the camp, talking like old friends by the time they arrived at the gate. Geoff looked relieved and he grinned at Gavin as he sat down between Ryan and Caleb, taking the bowl of food that Lindsay offered him with a grin. He was still smiling as he laid down in his bedroll, and he was out before it could fade.


	23. You're An Idiot

The next morning, Gavin woke to a hand shaking his shoulder. He winced slightly, opening his eyes to focus on Geoff.

“Time to pack up. We leave in twenty.”

Gavin sat up slowly, rolling his arm. His skin had almost finished healing after the creeper blast, but his race through the trees the day before may have hurt it more than he’d realized. He could feel the bruise from where he’d hit the ground, and debated on whether or not to tell Ryan. Shaking his head, he decided against it before standing and beginning to pack up his bedroll and saddlebags.

The group was ready to move in under an hour, taking some time to eat before they left the camp. Lindsay and Kerry waved after them as they walked down the path, disappearing behind the trees.

The day was cool and there was a slight breeze rustling the leaves. They moved quickly, passing a few buildings before hitting some of the Hunter’s games. Gavin smiled, enjoying the air as they walked. Eventually he reached up, unhooking his cloak and resting it across Grisham’s saddle.

They walked for another few minutes in silence before Jack turned to him. “Gavin, I was wondering…”

He trailed off, studying Gavin for a moment before his eyes widened. “You’re bleeding!”

The six of them stopped moving immediately, Ryan and Jack frantically rushing to Gavin’s side. He looked down, focusing on the bandages on his shoulder. Apparently his race through the forest with Kerry hadn’t just bruised him. It had actually reopened the wound, but with the bandages and his cloak covering it, he hadn’t noticed.

Geoff called for a break and they sat, Ryan pulling out his medical kit from his pack before kneeling at Gavin’s side. Carefully pulling the bandages away, he looked over the reopened wound. It wasn’t bad; only a small part of the seam had split, and it didn’t need stitches. He cleaned it and put on fresh bandages, looking up at Gavin.

“What did you do?”

Gavin crossed his arms defensively. “I didn’t do anything!”

“He raced Kerry through the forest on our way to see Lindsay,” Geoff supplied helpfully, earning a glare from Gavin.

Ryan just rolled his eye. “Why does that not surprise me,” he muttered, putting away his kit. “I’ll check it again when we get back to the city.”

The rest of the trip went smoothly, and they arrived at Achievement City before midday. Gavin breathed in the smell of wool and torches and found himself relieved to be back. That feeling made him stop dead in his tracks before turning to face Geoff.

“Geoff, I have a question.”

The older man looked over at him. “What’s up, Gav?”

Gavin shuffled his feet a little before answering. “We haven’t really talked about what happened in Achievement-burg. Or at Thugs Camp.”

Geoff tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

“Both you and Ryan have called me Hunter Six.”

Geoff was quiet for a moment before responding. “What are your thoughts on that?”

Gavin finally looked up at him. “What?”

“Being Hunter Six. What’s your opinion on the idea?”

He stayed quiet for a moment, looking around. Jack and Michael were unpacking their things in their houses, Ray was letting Percival outside, and Ryan was digging around in the chests outside his house.

Eventually he looked back at Geoff. “I’ll have to think about it, if that’s ok.”

“Of course. It’s a big decision; I understand.”

Gavin stood next to the hill, watching Geoff enter his house before turning to Grisham. We walked over and rested his head on the donkey’s neck, sighing.

“What the bloody hell am I supposed to do now?”


	24. Insert Hacker Voice Here

Over the next week, Gavin thought about Geoff’s question. It haunted him pretty much all the time; when he was out doing chores, when Ryan was taking care of his arm, even when he was just sitting quietly with Grisham.

His mind kept going over his past. He was a traveler, and had been for eight years. He had gone on adventures and almost been killed multiple times. Looking back, those events were what had shaped him. Those losses were the reason he was where he was.

The main question was, could he give it up? He had a planned route and many friends, traveling papers and Grisham. He had the skills, the routines, everything he needed. And he was good at it. He’d been very successful, and he knew it.

Then again, could he really just walk away from this? Ryan had scared and intimidated him when they’d first met in the shop. Jack had been impressive, and Michael had been downright scary. But looking back on his time with the group, he could confidently say that he would never forget it.

Michael was easily one of the best friends he’d ever had. Ray was constantly in awe of him, from his skills to his stories to his looks. Jack enjoyed his company enough to invite him fishing, and he always laughed at his questions before answering them. Geoff was amazing, funny, and caring, and he always included Gavin in everything.

And then there was Ryan. The man who’d been overly skeptical of him at first had ended up defending him multiple times. He’d taken care of him and practically saved his life.

Gavin’s thoughts were drawn back to the first time he ‘left.’

“Michael would be pissed if you just up and left. Jack would be hurt; Ray would be upset, and Ryan would be absolutely devastated.”

       Gavin cut him off with a snort, finally letting a little of his annoyance at the other blond show. “Devastated? Right. That’s why he’s been ignoring me for days.”

       “Well, if I were really close to someone, but knew that they were leaving soon, I’d distance myself too. Why make it harder, you know?”

He sighed, resting his head back on the tree before looking around the city. Ray and Jack were playing with Percival. The shorter man had a piece of string and was dangling it above the cat’s snout. Geoff was looking over a logbook of the supplies from his storage room, but he kept getting interrupted by Michael, who was throwing pebbles at him from on top of Ryan’s house. Geoff was getting increasingly annoyed, and Michael was barely holding in his laughter.

“You look like you’re having fun.”

Gavin jumped at the voice, whipping his head around to see Ryan laughing at him. The taller man sat beside him, looking across the city to where Geoff was now jumping in front of Ryan’s house, trying to get at Michael.

“Yeah, tons of fun.” He meant to say it sarcastically, but it came out fairly sincere. “You guys are one special group of people.”  
“I guess you could say that.”  
“No, I mean it. Every one of you is different and special in your own way. And it’s perfect. You’re so... diverse. And accepting.”

Ryan nodded as he spoke. “I suppose you’re right. I never thought of it that way, but yeah. I can see it.”

Gavin studied his friend, looking over Ryan’s eyes, his clothes, the sliver of green tattoo peeking out from his collar, and he knew.

“I’ll be back,” he said before standing, crossing the city with purpose and stopping a few feet behind Geoff.

“Geoffrey,” he said forcefully, causing Geoff to look at him carefully over his shoulder.

“Yes?”

“I’ve thought about our conversation.”

“Our conver- oh. Right. And?”

Gavin took a deep breath, puffing up his chest a little before smiling.

“I’m in.”

 


	25. Dinner In The Monolith

The announcement was made over dinner. Geoff called all of the Hunters together in his monolith for the first time since they’d arrived back from Achievement-burg. Near the end of the meal Geoff stood, looking around before locking eyes with Gavin.

    “As you guys know, Gavin is a traveler. He arrived here intent on helping Ray and leaving.”

    He glanced around again. Michael and Ray looked worried, Jack was staring at his plate, and Ryan was bouncing his leg, his attention focused on Gavin.

    “However, Gavin stayed with us longer than that, and recently has made himself one of the group. Gavin and I have talked, and he’s made his decision.”

    Finally, he smiled. “Boys, let’s officially welcome Hunter Six, Gavin Free.”

    Ray leaned over and hugged Gavin, overwhelmed by the news. Michael cheered and Jack smiled, patting Gavin on the back.

    Gavin looked around at the smiling faces before focusing on Ryan. The man looked the happiest Gavin had ever seen him, the smile on his face showing that this was better than anything he had hoped for. Gavin grinned back, overjoyed with the reaction. They were all so happy he was staying, he could barely remember why he’d wanted to leave.

    They celebrated over the rest of their meal, all smiles and laughter. By the time they stumbled out of Geoff’s house it was nearing midnight, and Jack, Michael, and Gavin were tipsy at the least.

    They split up, Jack and Ray heading to their houses, Michael following behind the bearded man. Gavin hiccuped, turning to say goodnight to Ryan when he noticed the look on the older man’s face.

    “What’s wrong?”

    Ryan looked at him and grinned. “Nothing. I was just… really worried that you’d be leaving tonight.”

    Gavin smiled softly at him. “Well, I’m not. So you can stop worrying.”

    “I know.” The smaller man’s smiled grew and he took a step forward, gently wrapping his arms around Ryan’s neck. He laced his hands behind Gavin’s back immediately, sinking into the embrace. Gavin smelled of oak leaves, oxeye petals, ale, and dirt. It was earthy and calming and _Gavin_.

    After a moment Gavin pulled back slightly, turning his head and pressing his lips softly to Ryan’s cheek before releasing him. Ryan’s felt a flush run down his neck, and he stayed rooted to his spot even as Gavin waved and walked towards his campsite.

It took him almost a minute to come back to his senses. He shook his head, looking around before walking to his house. He dutifully ignored the whispered “Smooth” that floated through the crack in Geoff’s door.

 

 


	26. Cobble Cobble

Ryan gazed unhappily down at Gavin. It was three am, and Gavin was still sound asleep after Geoff’s dinner. Ryan, however, was still awake. He gave up on trying to sleep after a few hours, before putting on a shirt and taking a walk. Which brought him here, where he was standing in the grass moodily staring at the sleeping traveler.

Gavin’s set up, all in all, was what displeased Ryan. The man had been with them for three months and his entire “campsite” consisted of his bedroll, his saddlebags, and Grisham. Not only was it the opposite of homey, it was also unsafe. The last thing they needed was a creeper blowing up Gavin and the failsafe one night.

He moved on, finishing his walk and making his way back to his house, finally passing out. The next morning, he went back over to see Gavin, who was resting his back against Grisham as he leafed through one of his books. He looked up as Ryan approached.

“Hey, Rye! What’s up?”

“I want to ask you a question.”

“What kind of question?”

“An important one.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

Ryan quickly backpedalled. “No, no, it’s ok! It’s good. It’s just… important.”

“Well, shoot then.”

“How would you feel about a house?”

Gavin blinked at him, processing his words. “What?”

“A house. Here. For you.”

“You mean, like… building me a house.”

“Yeah. I mean, you’re officially a Hunter now, and everyone else has one, and you’re a little exposed out here with no shelter, and-”

Ryan’s nervous rambling was cut off when Gavin stood, stepping forward and wrapping his arms around him for the second time in twenty four hours. He pulled back after a moment, beaming up at the other blond.

“I would love that. Did Geoff say yes?”

“I didn’t ask him yet; I thought that I’d make sure it’s what you wanted first. I don’t think he’ll have a problem with it though.”

Geoff, of course, being the loveable otter that he was, adored the idea, and told Gavin that whatever he wanted to build, they’d help him.

“It can be our new project! I haven’t come up with a game in a while, and I think the boys are getting restless.”

The next two days were filled with stone, wool, and a very upset donkey that was wondering why it’s grass was being covered. Gavin had decided that he wanted his house to be made of stone. This decision, unsurprisingly, confused everyone, but they went along with it, and soon the stone structure was built.

They left Gavin alone on the third day, allowing him to hug and thank them before retreating to let him decorate. When Michael went to check on him that night he wouldn’t let him in, saying that “It needs to be finished before anyone can see.”

Eventually Gavin walked out of his house and straight into Geoff’s. After talking with the older man for a minute, he smiled, hugged him, and took off towards Grisham. He was clearing the saddlebags when Ray jogged up to him.

“And where exactly are you going?”

Gavin smiled at him, mounting his ferocious steed. “I need to pick some things up. I have some stuff stored in a shop a few days ride from here. I’m just grabbing that and I’ll be back.”

It took Gavin a little over a week to get there and back, and in that time, Geoff realized just how much the green clad man had changed their community. Ryan and Ray were antsy without him. Michael poured his whole heart into his chores, never staying in town longer than to eat or sleep. Jack seemed normal, but Geoff would catch him staring at the empty stone house every once in a while.

Gavin, however, had no idea, so when he arrived back and dismounted, he wasn’t expecting a weight to immediately latch itself onto him. He stumbled a little, dropping the reins to hug Ray back.

“Bloody christ, Ray. I was gone for a week.”

Ray nodded, pulling back. “I know.”

Michael and Geoff also greeted him with hugs, while Jack settled for a pat on the shoulder. Gavin looked around, immediately relieved when he saw Ryan’s door open. The kilted man walked out and looked around, spotting the group and making his way over. By the time he caught up he was staring right at Gavin, a wide grin on his face. He didn’t stop moving until he was right in front of the smaller blond, bending down and wrapping him in a hug, which Gavin eagerly returned.

“I’m glad you’re back.”

Gavin pulled back and smiled up at him. “Me too.”

No one but Michael heard Ray’s whispered “Gay,” and he elbowed the shorter man in the ribs to shut him up.


	27. The Artist

It took another four days for Gavin to finish decorating, but finally he left his house, skipping with glee. Michael, Ryan, and Jack were standing in front of the bulletin board when Gavin charged up, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“Guess what, guess what, guess what!” he said, grinning at them.

“You found your manhood?” Michael asked sarcastically, smirking as Gavin rolled his eyes.

“I finished my house! You guys want to see?”

He ran off without waiting for an answer, obviously expecting the three men to follow him, which they did. He opened his door and walked inside, standing in the center of the room and grinning at the awestruck faces in the doorway.

The inside of the house was fairly roomy, with a few chests in the floor and corner and a bed pushed against the wall. The windows were large and covered an entire wall, facing Ray’s house. The floor was green and brown checkerboard carpet, and a few torches created a soft glow.

But the main attraction was the paintings. Most were portraits of flowers; just looking around the wall in front of him Ryan recognized Allium, Peony, Lilac, Blue Orchid, and White Tulip. There were creatures too, realistic and abstract. A fairly creepy Skeleton sat across from an Enderman warping through the rain. A lot of them were landscapes; sunsets on strange beaches, cities and towns, forests and mountains. Places Gavin had traveled, Ryan realized. He stared at a painting of a pirate ship and shook his head in wonder.

“This is amazing!” Jack said, and Ryan turned to find him staring at a lifelike painting of Achievement-burg. “How did you do this?”

“Oh, that one? I painted that while we were there.”

Michael did a double take. “What do you mean, while we were there? There was no time for you to do that without us noticing!”

Gavin grinned and winked at him. “There’s always time for painting.”

Ryan found his eyes drawn to the two images at the head of Gavin’s bed. One was a very detailed painting of Achievement City as it would be seen from Gavin’s house. The second one, the one that really caught his attention, was a painting of five people. He looked closer, focusing on the outfits enough to realize who it was.

“You painted us?”

Gavin looked over and flushed slightly, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly as Jack and Michael leaned over to look at the painting as well.

“Oh. Yeah… That one’s a little old, but I had inspiration, I guess.”

“Gavin,” Jack asked, turning to look at him. “Why didn’t you tell us you were this amazing at art?”

Gavin shrugged, blowing off the praise. “It never came up. Most of these are pretty old too, with the exception of Achievement City. These were what I had stored. I finally have a place to put them all, so I’m taking advantage of it!”

He grinned. “My paintings aren’t all that great. My best work is in my sketchbooks.”

Jack looked over at him with interest, and Gavin quickly backpedaled. “No, I mean, I have some other stuff in my sketchbooks that aren’t painted over yet. They just have more detail.”

The taller man nodded, letting the conversation drop. But thinking back, he realized that Gavin always did seem to have a book in his hands. He’d always assumed the man was reading, but it made sense that he would carry a sketchbook everywhere he went, especially being a traveler.

“Hey Gav, have you seen- Oh.”

Ray had just walked through the door, stopping dead in his tracks as he looked around. His eyes scanned over the images covering the walls before he glanced at Gavin.

“You…?”

“I?”

“You painted these?”

“Every last one.”

The shorter man looked around again, muttering a quiet “awesome” as he looked over the colors. He honed in on one painting, staring at the reds and oranges splashed over the page.

“What… is this?” he asked, bringing Gavin over. He smiled, looking at the picture fondly.

“My first Nether Fortress.”

Ray just stared at him.

“You know, a Nether Fortress. You go through a Nether Portal into the Nether and fight Ghasts and Zombie Pigmen until you find a Nether Fortress, where you go in and find Blazes and Wither Skeletons? And sometimes there’s chests with stuff and you can build and fight the Wither?”

He looked around, four surprised faces staring back at him. It was Ryan who spoke up first.

“I’ve only ever read about those. I half thought that they might be a myth.”

Gavin raised his eyebrows. “What? Not at all! I,” he puffed up his chest. “Have been in three.”

Ray shook his head, staring at Gavin in wonder. Michael shook his head as well, rolling his eyes at the display. Jack grinned, focusing on a painting of a cave glittering with diamond and gold. Ryan was staring at the painting of the Nether Fortress. He tilted his head, squinting slightly.

“Gavin, what’s that thing on top of it?”

“What?”

“Right there,” he pointed to the spot of color and Gavin’s face turned soft.

“Oh. That’s Burnie.”

 


	28. Burnie

_“Burns, hurry up!”_

_Gavin ran forward, laughing as Burnie gave chase. The two were making their way to Ashburg, having left their steeds in Cherub City until they came back. The two donkeys were tired after the ride from Tulip Creek to Cherub, so they decided to give them a rest and walk the two day journey._

_Burnie finally caught up with him, grabbing him by the cloak and pulling him backwards until he could wrap an arm around him and ruffle his hair._

_“Oh get off, you prick!” Gavin shoved at his arm, dislodging him before hopping away, keeping a little ahead of the other man until he knew it was safe._

_Burnie had picked him up a few months prior out of Olde Town, where Dan used to live. The market had been going on and Burnie was a trinket dealer, with a few bags of baubles and curiosities that he would set out on a table. Gavin had been drawn in by the sight of a gold oak leaf pin. Just as he moved up to the booth there was a commotion behind him, and he remembered that he was supposed to be hiding._

_He looked up in fear, locking eyes with the shopkeep just as the other man realized what was going on. He studied Gavin for a second before grabbing him by the arm, pulling him around the side of the stall and shoving him roughly under it._

_A group of men ran passed, looking carefully through all the customers before moving on, and the shopkeep waited until they were out of sight before letting the kid up. As he stood and brushed off the dirt, Burnie studied him._

_The kid was lanky, but not frail. His hair was surprisingly long, and held back in a ponytail. He had a brown t-shirt on under his green cloak, and tan trousers with cheaply made brown boots. To anyone else, he wouldn’t have looked very special. Burnie could see it though._

_He reached down, picking up the pin Gavin had been drawn in by and holding it up to him. “You like this?”_

_Gavin looked at him wide eyed, staring a moment before nodding slowly._

_“How about a trade?”_

_The boy’s face dropped. “I don’t really have anything of value…”_

_“Sure you do.” The boy looked confused. “You.”_

_The kid blushed, opening his mouth to deny any involvement in prostitution but Burnie cut him off._

_“Not like that. Ok look. I’m looking for an apprentice.” It was a lie, but hey, Gavin didn’t need to know that. “You fit the description. And from what I just saw, you’re looking for a way out.”_

_He tossed the pin in the air, catching it on its way down. Gavin’s eyes followed it before they latched onto Burnie again._

_“So here’s the deal. You become my apprentice. I teach you about traveling, protecting yourself, selling things, collecting, all the trade secrets. You come with me to all of my stops and I show you how to do it. And I’ll even give you this,” he held out the pin. “As the first token of a budding friendship. So, what do you say?”_

_Gavin looked at the pin, at Burnie, at the rest of the market, and back to Burnie. Smiling, he held out his hand, taking the pin and placing it over the cheap silver one holding his cloak on. He put his hand back out, catching Burnie’s and shaking it._

_“I think that sounds like a great plan…?” he paused._

_“Burnie. Glad to have you on board…?”_

_ The boy grinned. “Gavin.” _


	29. Burns

Gavin reached up, playing with the pin on his cloak idly and smiling fondly at the memory.

“Who’s Burnie?” Michael asked, leaning in to look at the figure in the painting.

“My mentor. The guy who took me in and taught me everything he knew about trading. He bought me Grisham and was there on a lot of my best adventures.”

Michael smiled at him. “What’s he like?”

“Oh, bloody amazing! Funny and smart, nice, courageous, adventurous. God, I wanted to be him when I grew up.”

“Wow,” Ray said, smiling at the nostalgic tone Gavin had taken on. “Where is he now?”

Gavin stared at the little figure in the painting. “Ashburg Cemetery.”

They looked up at him as he continued. “Well, actually, his tombstone is in the Ashburg Cemetery. There wasn’t really anything left to bury.”

Ray stared at him in horror, not wanting to ask, but Gavin continued anyway.

“There was an accident. The hunt wasn’t supposed to go like it did. It was a simple mission into the Nether. Get in, kill some Zombie Pigmen, get the gold, get out.”

He sighed, remembering it. He’d relived the memory a hundred times over. “He got too close to the edge and a Ghast came out of nowhere. The fireball exploded at his feet and he was caught off guard when the pigman attacked. He fell off the edge.”

He stopped looking at the painting, focusing his attention on the floor instead. Burnie was one of the few things he’d pretty much kept to himself. It felt odd to talk about him.

“I barely got out alive. Still have a scar or two from it. It happened a few years ago though. I’ve adjusted, and I’ve done fine on my own.” He raised his head, looking at the forlorn expressions in front of him.

“Oh come now, let’s not sulk. Now that I’m done with my house, who wants to go find Geoff and build a new game?”

Michael and Ray nodded, and Jack grinned as they headed for the door. Ryan looked at the little figure one more time.

“You coming?”

He turned around to see Gavin holding the door open, watching him. He smiled, moving forward and following the other out before closing the door behind him.


	30. Three Man Chess

Over the next few weeks, Ray paid closer attention to Gavin, taking note of any time when the blond had a book in his hands. After a while he realized that it was the same one. Over and over again, Gavin had this brown leather bound book in his hands, and most often had a quill pressed to the pages.

It took a while for Ray to find his opportunity, but it eventually presented itself. Gavin was sitting against the corner of his house, completely absorbed in his sketchbook. Ryan, Michael, and Geoff were sitting in a circle in the middle of the city, playing three man chess. Ryan was winning, and Michael had already tipped over the board twice before setting it up again.

Ray moved around the left side of his house, walking carefully up the hill and towards the back of Gavin’s. He took a few steps towards the blond, staying as quiet as possible despite the fact that Michael’s shouting would have drowned out any noise he made anyways.

Soon he was close enough that he could look over Gavin’s shoulder at the pages. Ray was stunned. The left page had a few different sketches on it. In the top left corner was Michael smiling. The bottom left was Geoff laughing with a bottle of ale in his hand. The center of the page was Ray, standing in profile with his cape blowing in the wind. He looked surprisingly heroic. The top right was Jack, hunched over and playing with Percival.

The right page, the one Gavin was working on, was blocked from his view for a minute by Gavin’s arm before he moved to dip his quill in ink. Most of the page was taken up by a single portrait. The look of concentration on Ryan’s face matched the one he wore now, carefully moving his rook to take Geoff’s knight. His hand gripped his chin and his hair fell slightly in front of his face. Gavin was currently working on Ryan’s eyes, adding little lines here and there that made them perfect.

“Whoa,” Ray said softly, causing Gavin to jump. The blond spun around, hiding his sketchbook from view as his face flushed red. His eyes locked onto Ray.

“What are you doing?” he squeaked.

“I, uh…” Ray didn’t exactly know how to explain himself, so he changed the subject instead. “Those are really good.”

Gavin looked back down at the sketchbook, still hiding the pages from view. “Thank you.”

“No, no, I mean it!” Ray said, sitting crosslegged on the ground next to him. “I’ve never seen anything like that! It’s amazing!”

Gavin finally looked up at him, the blush on his face still present but his small smile reassuring. “Really?”

“Yeah! You’re incredible.”

He said the last part softly, his face taking on a look of pure adoration. Gavin looked down, embarrassed by the praise. Ray waited a moment before he spoke again.

“Can I, maybe… see more?”

Gavin looked at him carefully before looking down at his sketchbook. Eventually he nodded, handing the book over. He watched Ray as he flipped through the first few pages, slowly relaxing at the look of wonder on the younger man’s face.

They stayed like that until Ray had looked through the entire book. Then he quietly sat and watched as Gavin finished the details on the portrait he had been working on. The three men had gotten tired of chess and had invited Jack to play four person checkers. How that would work, Ray had no idea.


End file.
